Kara O'Neill, With Two L's
by Archer83
Summary: After drifting through the void for countless years, a ship containing a young girl lands on a primitive planet that is just as strange and unfamiliar to her as the powers she begins to develop there. Another original idea from Nomad-117! Slightly AU story line. Re-posted for this story's awesome readers and reviewers after being taken down by those nice folks at FF Admin.
1. Waking Up Far From Home

**Kara O'Neill, With Two L's**

by

**Nomad-117, Archer83, and Vergil1989 the Crossover King**

**Summary: **After drifting through the void for countless years, a ship containing a young girl lands on a primitive planet that is just as strange and unfamiliar to her as the powers she begins to develop there.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately none of us own Stargate SG-1, or DC Comics or any of its variations which are not limited to the movie universe.

**Authors Notes: **_Nomad-117: Another one of my Ideas that was brought to live by those_ _awesome authors. These two did most of the work, and if I may say so did pretty damn good :)._

**Archer83: UPDATE: Re-posted 3/10/14 **

**Seriously FF Admin, removing an entire story because of one small announcement / error apology AND locking my account so I can't re-post the work you deleted? You'd think the Admin staff on a site this big would have far more important things to worry about than that. **

**Chapter One: Waking Up Far From Home**

Major Samantha Carter tiredly blinked as she glanced at her alarm clock with blurry blue eyes before quickly answering her phone. _Great, if someone is calling me at one thirty in the morning, it's gotta be bad news. _She couldn't count the number of times the phone rang and things went down the drain shortly afterward. With the Goa'uld on the march and the Replicators starting their own war, that was to be expected. So it came as no surprise she picked up her bedside phone with some trepidation. "Samantha Carter here, let me guess, the galaxy is ending or someth-"

The irritated voice on the other end was very familiar to her, and whatever grogginess she felt disappeared as Colonel Jack O'Neill spoke in rushed, clipped sentences. "Carter get your ass over to my cabin pronto. No questions, I'll explain later. If I haven't gone completely nuts that is. The jury is probably still out on that one."

Sitting up in bed, Carter had to switch the phone to the other side of her head as she fumbled for a light switch. "Sir...Jack, you're scaring me. What's going-"

"Ah ah ah! No questions, remember? Just get down here. Daniel and Teal'c are already on their way. See you soon Carter." Before Samantha could even open her mouth to respond, she heard a distinctive CLICK as O'Neill hung up on her.

"Duty calls..." Carter grumbled as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and quickly got dressed. Five minutes later, she had already left her quiet neighborhood far behind as her bike raced at twice the legal speed towards the closest airport. _What the hell has Jack gotten himself into this time? _Just under three hours later, of a horrible red eye flight, desolate highway driving and then bumpy back roads found Carter pulling her rental car in front of O'Neill's cabin. "Jack! Jack are you alright?!" Carter started pounding on the front door a half second later, tempted to throw a rock through a nearby window if Jack didn't open up in five seconds or less.

Spinning on her heel when a hand fell on her shoulder, Carter breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the puzzled look on Jack's face. "Carter, what _exactly_ are you doing?" O'Neill gestured towards the heavily wooded area around them in mock exasperation. "You're gonna wake the neighbors. And the weirdness is in back anyway." O'Neill said as he quickly walked around the corner of his cabin, a small grin on his face despite the very odd situation he found himself in. "Nice timing, by the way. You beat Tweedle Dee Serious Face and Tweedle Not So Dumb here. Come on, I know you wanna see it." Jack waggled his eyebrows at Carter before quickly ducking back around the corner.

Samantha hesitantly walked around the far corner of the cabin, her mind already coming up with several reasons for what was happening, and besides this being some kind of weird surprise party, none of them were good. "Jack...should I call a doctor? There's no shame in admitting you need hel-" She nearly jumped as O'Neill appeared behind her, her hand already on the pistol grip behind her back.

Holding his hands up in a placating gesture when he saw her hand fly to the pistol at her back, Jack took a step back while making a mental note not to surprise her, ever. "Nice reflexes. I'm _pretty_ sure you aren't going to have to shoot anyone. Although, getting Frasier down might not be a bad idea, but it's not me I'm worried about Carter. It's whoever dropped in my backyard I'm worried about. On the plus side, you're gonna love this, trust me."

Relaxing slightly, Samantha slowly followed behind O'Neill as he led her past the edge of the lake behind his house and into the woods surrounding his home. _Oh boy...I knew that PTSD he never admits to would manifest itself somehow. Maybe when Teal'c and Daniel get here, if he actually called them that is, we can talk some- Oh...that is very...odd._ It took Carter several seconds to realize she was staring at what could only be described as some kind of impact crater, which was currently occupied. "Um sir….why is there what looks to be a stasis tube laying in the middle of your 'backyard'?"

"Typical Wednesday?" Jack deadpanned, earning an annoyed scoff from the brilliant blonde scientist. He pointed with mild annoyance at his newest lawn decoration before turning to stare at Carter. "You tell me Ms. Spock, I'm a grunt, not an astrophysicist. I'd personally, simpleton that I am mind you, take a wild guess and say this thing crashed, like most of your usual, cliche UFO landings. Roswell, Groom Lake, and my house. You'd think they could have found a better parking spot for this thing." O'Neill wasn't quite fast enough to grab Carter's arm as she walked right up to the object. "Um, Carter, this thing could be giving us a real bad sunburn if you get my drift."

"I don't see any signs of high level radiation damage on the vegetation around the crash site, I think we're alright. But sir...this is incredible. It looks like they somehow managed to use some kind of crystalline base for the pod itself. The design looks even more advanced than Goa'uld or Asgard technology. That's just an educated guess of course, I'll have to take a closer look." Climbing onto the silvery tube itself, Carter jumped back in shock when she saw something, or rather _someone,_ inside. "Sir! There's a girl in here!"

"You wanna know the funny thing Carter, took me half the time to figure out that mildly interesting fact. I wasn't going to chance screwing around with this thing until you guys got here, but we _aren't _leaving her in that thing if I have anything to say about it. And since we're, you know, on my property I kind of do." Pulling out a flashlight before Carter could come up with a proper response to his usual sarcasm, Jack turned and pointed it towards his driveway, having heard a car pull up.

Less than a minute later, Daniel loudly announced Teal'c and his arrival as he desperately attempted to keep up with the running Jaffa, noticing the flashlight Jack was waving to get their attention. The yelling really wasn't required, his loud stumbling through the woods was all the notice Jack and Sam needed. "We're here, we're here! Teal'c apparently doesn't understand that speed limit signs don't apply in an emergency! So what's the big- Oh. That. Why am I not surprised? I mean, I really _should_ be right?"

"I did not want to draw unnecessary attention upon ourselves, Daniel Jackson." Answered the stoic Jaffa warrior. Unable to find a logical fallacy, Daniel let the matter drop. Teal'c glanced at the strange tube that had caught Jackson's eye. "I believe our many adventures have desensitized us to rather incredible situations."

The genius archaeologist and SGC team member cocked his head to the side as he leaned closer towards the strange silvery object. "Indeed." Teal'c looked at Daniel, one eyebrow raised in an inquisitorial manner, but the Jaffa said nothing as he looked away from his friend a moment later.

"Guys, not important! We have a crashed pod with a possibly wounded passenger here!" Sam shouted at the two of them. She regretted that she had to raise her voice but she knew that if she didn't, those two would go on forever.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Indeed?" She would probably never figure out how he managed to make it sound like a question.

Standing next to him, Daniel blinked owlishly and pushed his glasses up. "Okay...weird cryo pod in a giant crater in Jack's backyard. Anybody know where this thing come from? I'm sure somebody had to see the massive fireball before this thing augered in. Last I checked, the SGC has a ton of sensors and alarms that should warn us if something like this was gonna happen. Right? Guys? What are you doing?"

"How about we first try to figure out how to get this girl out of there before we think about something else, that alright with you Daniel?" Drawled O'Neill in his unique way.

"Oh right. Of course there's a girl in it." Daniel said as he climbed up next to Samantha, who had since discovered several symbols on the side where the 'glass' met the hull. "At a glance, it looks like a message. It'll take some time, but I think I can work this out, hopefully. Teal'c, you have my bag handy? See if you can't find my camera, I want to take some pictures and upload the images to my computer term….what?" Daniel asked when he met Jack's gaze, which all but shouted he didn't like _that _particular idea at all.

"You don't want to tell anyone about her or the ship?" Samantha asked, having a feeling it was far more the former than the latter.

"Gee... How'd you guess?" Jack deadpanned again, earning another annoyed scoff from Carter.

Daniel sighed heavily as he hopped down from the pod. He and the rest of them understood why Jack was hesitant to say anything to anyone. The NID had been giving them trouble, the SGC had a serious mole problem, and besides General Hammond and Dr. Frasier, the SG-1 team didn't know who they could trust. "Hammond isn't going to like this, but I'm in. As long as we tell _him _at least, eventually."

Teal'c merely gave a solemn nod to show his approval of O'Neill's course of action. "Indeed. I will gladly take part in this clearly illegal endeavor as well, if only to keep this young girl out of less than scrupulous hands."

"And ours are any better?" Carter asked, a smirk on her face at the self deprecating humor as she tried to find a way to open the pod. Her smirk faltered however when she considered something rather unpleasant. While unlikely, it was still a possibility. "Did it occur to anyone that she _might not _even breathe oxygen? We could kill her by just taking her out of this thing."

O'Neill raised a hand to get the flustered woman's attention. "Hey Carter? Would it help if I said that her pod got awfully chatty upon making itself at home in my backyard?" Jack asked, earning an inquisitive look from his chief scientist. "Didn't catch the whole thing, and it was in some weird alien language of course, but it sounded like it found our little patch of dirt to be acceptable for her."

"And how would you know that Colonel?" Carter asked as she climbed over to the other side of the pod, shining a flashlight of her own over the pod's seam before stopping at some kind of indentation.

"A little green light blinked on and off a few times when it started ranting for a couple minutes." O'Neill replied, shrugging his shoulders since it made sense to him that was what it had been.

He didn't mention that a holographic image of an older gentleman had appeared next to the pod, dressed in some weird black and red fringed robes. And that said robed gentleman had apparently asked him to help the young girl in the pod. At least, that was what Jack figured the jist of it must have been. But that would just seem nuts, even to his friends. Probably. What hadn't seemed so crazy was the way the older man had ran his hand across the pod's edge, as if saying goodbye to its sole occupant. That had told Jack all he needed to know about the girl and her possible intentions however. Only a truly benevolent person would send one of their own to safety as this particular girl had been. Why else would you stick someone into a pod to crash on some backwater rock in the middle of nowhere?

"Oh, well that's good enough for me. Want me to get a crowbar for you, Sam?" Daniel asked, his words dripping with sarcasm, having completely missed Jack's contemplative visage.

"No...I think we need a key of some kind." She had apparently missed the joke as she stood to her full height before jumping back down to the ground by her friends. "There's some kind of indentation on the side of the pod. It looks like something fits into it. Look around for fragments, anything that might be-"

"You mean this?" Jack grinned as he held up a thin, silvery metallic object. "This thing got spit out when it finished its 'checklist', or whatever. I _wonder_ what it does..." Before Samantha could take it away for a closer look, Jack approached the ship and quickly climbed next to where she had spotted the slot. "What's the worst that could happen? Right?" He asked when everyone below glared at him in a mixture of unease and wary curiosity.

"Do you want me to go through the list?" Daniel asked, remembering their track record when it came to strange and unusual artifacts of alien origin. "With our luck...my money's on weird space succubus ...thing."

"Wouldn't that be a nice change? Feel free to take a few steps back if it makes you feel better." Jack noticed that he was the only person standing anywhere near the pod before he had even finished. "Real nice, guys. I can feel the burning camaraderie from here." O'Neill only hesitated for the briefest of moments as he turned back to stare at the unconscious girl's expressionless face. "Screw it. Here goes nothing." With that, he slid the small metallic 'key' into its lock and raised an eyebrow as the window, as well as most of the top half of the tube, simply disappeared as if it had phased out of existence. There was no blast of cold air, no sign to say she had been frozen, which only proved Carter's stasis theory.

Sam knew Jack wasn't about to change his mind now, but that didn't stop the twisting feeling in her gut. "Be careful sir."

"Carter...again I ask, what's the worst that could happen? It's just a sleeping kid for Christ sake- Huh." Jack said as the young girl opened her hazy blue eyes, only to jolt out of the pod, gasping for breath. "Okay, that went better than I ex-" His words were cut short by an agonized, blood curdling scream of fear and pain as the young blonde girl slammed her eyes shut and jammed her hands over her ears. "Carter help me out here!" Jack immediately regretted shouting when the girl curled up tighter into herself. As _crazy_ as it seemed, Jack was able to figure out that she obviously didn't like loud noises. "Hey...hey, it's alright." He said far more quietly as Sam hopped up next to him, just as the girl started to relax . She immediately tensed up again after O'Neill made the mistake of slowly reaching out to her. "Easy kid... we're not gonna hurt you. Promise. See Carter, nothin' to worry about."

"Lai'ral nar mel'eck!" Before anyone could stop her, the girl grabbed O'Neill's extended arm by the wrist in one hand and the front of his jacket with the other. Jack soon found himself flung from the pod. He slammed back first into the nearest tree a good twenty feet away a split second later, much to everyone's shock. Even Teal'c was stunned at the raw power displayed by the small girl as he looked between his friend and the pod's occupant. "Vos't drey mel'eck!"

"Hey Daniel, time for you to do your translation thing." Jack said, upside down against the tree, before he rolled to the ground and slowly staggered back to his feet with no small amount of help from Teal'c

"Right…." Daniel said, still slack jawed from seeing one of his closest friends tossed from the impact crater like a rag doll. "Ah...hi there. Clearly you don't speak English so... Parlez-vous français? ¿Hablas español?" When all he got was a puzzled look from the young blonde, he sighed. "Okay….should have figured that wouldn't get through. I'm gonna need more to work with apparently."

"Give it a rest Daniel. She's obviously scared out of her mind." Sam grumbled as she looked over her shoulder before turning back to the petrified girl in the pod. It was like talking with Cassandra all over again when they had first found her. Just like before, Carter made it a point to speak softly to her, starting with their names as she gestured to herself, Daniel and Teal'c, as well as a still wheezing Jack. "Hi, I'm Sam, and those guys over there are Daniel and Teal'c. Jack's the one you introduced to that maple." She doubted the actual words made sense anyway since the girl was barely listening to her and was no doubt in shock, but the tone seemed to properly convey Sam's intent as she held out her hands to the girl, hoping she was making it clear she didn't intend to harm her. "We aren't going to hurt you, no one's mad at you." Carter gestured once again to O'Neill, who by now was having a hard time trying to not grimace, but still managed to have a small smile plastered on his face. "There, all better now, see. No harm done."

"Except to my backside." Jack groaned as he made his way back to the pod, rubbing at his cracked wrist with his good hand.

The blonde slowly calmed down after a few minutes, muttering what they hoped was an apology as she fell against her pod when she tried to climb out of it, as if overtaken by a wave of dizziness. If not for Sam and Jack catching her on the way down, she might have fallen to the dirt. "Kara Zor-El." She finally said, pointing at herself before looking to Jack first.

"I think she wants your name since you were the one that got her out." Daniel said, pondering the strange girl before them as he placed a finger on his chin.

"What ever gave you that idea Daniel?" Jack asked, holding up a hand before the good doctor could try to come up with a witty comeback. Turning to Kara, who looked a little green around the gills, most likely from who knew how long in stasis, the oldest of their group sat down next to her. "Jack O'Neill, two Ls, in case you're wondering. Nice to meetcha Kara." As much as his broken wrist hurt, he kept his discomfort from his face as he held out his good hand to her. Hesitantly taking the offered limb, Jack couldn't help the small smile on his face as the girl shook it far more gently than he expected. "Good to know you aren't always superhuman-ish."

Carter had managed to overcome her astonishment long enough to realize the girl was shivering for a very obvious reason. Namely, she was entirely nude in the middle of a Colorado forest in January. "Um...guys? Maybe we should get her some clothes?" Jack had already removed his jacket and had draped it around the blonde's shoulders, and from the appreciative smile on her face, she was thankful for even that much, but Carter's attention was elsewhere. Mainly, the absence of their tight lipped Jaffa friend. "Wait...where did Teal'c go? Teal'c?!" Sam flinched when Kara covered her ears again, a pained expression forming on her face from her shout. "Sorry Kara. Sir? Is it possible she has extremely sensitive hearing?"

"And you're only figuring that out now? You get a D minus for observational skills Carter." Jack deadpanned, earning a shake of Sam's head for his trouble while Kara merely stared at the ground at her feet.

"You called for me Major Carter?" Sam nearly jumped at the Jaffa's serene voice as Teal'c appeared behind her, carrying several articles of clothing he had clearly raided from O'Neill's bedroom.

"_Excellent_ timing. Thank you for proving my point Teal'c. Now how about we take this little party inside so she doesn't have to dress in front of everyone eh?" Jack asked, rolling his eyes at Teal'c's good intentions, but even he was smart enough to figure that out. Before anyone could move, the girl simply shrugged and walked over to Teal'c, who lightly bowed his head to her in acknowledgment. Apparently, Kara didn't seem to mind much. She seemed to have a hard time with the clothing she had taken from his outstretched arms though as she struggled with the shirt and pants.

"Oh honey, no, that hole is for your arm not your head. Here, let me help you." Carter barely kept herself from laughing as she walked over to the naive, surprisingly vulnerable, blonde, who had gotten herself hopelessly tangled in one of Jack's flannel shirts. "Guys, turn around." Sam glared at the three men around her. "I better not catch any of you peeking."

"I'm going to take a guess and say that whoever her people are or were, they don't wear clothes like us. Probably something simple yet functional, like robes or wraps of some kind." Daniel commented as he and Teal'c quickly spun around before Samantha could utter another word. Jack chuckled and spread out on the pod, his hands behind his head, content to stare up at the night sky while Sam took care of their newest 'guest'.

Getting her untangled from the flannel shirt, Sam quickly picked out a pair of pants, not particularly caring if it matched or not. So long as she was warm, that was all that mattered. All the while, Samantha tried to make small talk in an effort to keep Kara calm. "So, first time in Colorado huh? Earth's got plenty of warmer places you could have landed, I can tell you that."

"Just be happy she didn't land in the arctic Carter." Jack chimed in, his tone sounding completely serious, except the small smirk on his face said otherwise.

"Or the Sahara for that matter." Daniel quietly observed.

"I, for one, am most grateful that she did not sink to the bottom of one of your planet's rather large oceans, Major Carter." Teal'c helpfully added, keeping his tone light for the girl's sake.

The inquisitive look on Kara's face as she got her head through the right hole in the flannel shirt said it all. "Yes, they are always like this." Carter replied as she exaggerated rolling her eyes in the men's direction, earning an amused chuckle from the girl at her side. "You get used to it after a while."

"Oh, I doubt anyone can get completely used to Jack, Sam. As long as I've known him, he still manages to surprise me on a biweekly basis." Daniel replied, just as Sam was finishing up with Kara, helping her pull on and buttoned up the jeans she had chosen out of the pile. Lastly, Carter helped her into a pair of boots that were far too big for the petite blonde.

"Daniel. Be quiet would you? You're probably scaring the kid with the super strength and weird hearing." Jack snarked as he sat up, once he saw that Kara was dressed. "You know what this momentous occasion calls for?"

Jackson sighed deeply and hung his head, already knowing Jack's less than refined taste in cuisine. "If you suggest a beer and a bucket of chicken wi-"

"I was _going_ to say our guest here could use some hot chocolate Daniel. That's a good idea too though." Jack shrugged as he quickly caught up with his group of friends who had since started back towards his cabin.

Carter made it a point to gesture for the girl to follow her instead of touching her. "Good thinking sir, she needs some carbohydrates and-" Sam paused when O'Neill looked at her like she was nuts.

"I was _thinking_ something warm to drink would help calm down the freaked out young alien girl, Carter." Jack cut in as they reached his back deck and Teal'c opened the door for them. "_That_, and women love chocolate. I'm hoping that's a universal thing."

"Smart man." Daniel gave a nod of agreement, along with an amused Teal'c, as Samantha tried not to blush in embarrassment.

"We have something quite similar to your world's cocoa bean, O'Neill. Jaffa women also favor it, so your theory may indeed be correct. The Goa'uld likely transported it from one of their conquered worlds, hence why it can be found on so many." Teal'c explained, much to Daniel and Carter's piqued curiosity. It made sense that the System Lords and their warriors would transport more than slaves and supplies across the universe, but they didn't get a chance to ask more about the possible ramifications.

"Oh. Good to know Teal'c. See Carter, might be onto something." Jack made a show of inviting 'Kara' to enter his cabin as he gestured inside. "Mi Casa es su Casa, Kara. Oh, you guys too." He added as an afterthought, before he shut the door with a casual back kick once he was inside his little slice of paradise.

"Va'shaun." Kara said, nodding her head in appreciation as she took in the simple quarters.

"That means 'thank you', I think." Daniel supplied, hoping he got the translation right. It seemed plausible, given the current context and situation at hand.

Jack rubbed his eyes and sighed as Teal'c bowed his head politely to Kara again before he motioned towards O'Neill's couch. "Daniel?"

"Yeah Jack?" Daniel replied, dropping into the nearby La-z-boy. He had a funny feeling he knew what was coming as he took his glasses off and polished them on his shirt.

Jack followed Daniel's example to plopped down into another chair, careful not to hit his injured right arm on the way down. "_Please_ shut up. You're putting everyone to sleep, Captain Obvious." Quickly remembering his freaky space guest, Jack went to get up, only to put his weight on his injured right wrist. "Ahh! Son of a...I mean, right, hot choclate, be right back."

Throwing his hands up in frustration, Daniel glared at Jack across his cluttered living room. "Right. Well don't come crawling to me when I get those glyphs on her stasis tube, pod, whatever, translated. And you _might _wanna let us look your wrist Jack, you know the one you're cradling out of sight as I speak."

"Kesh'va vas geal'n te'arn?" After a moment of hesitation, Kara nervously looked towards Jack, having no doubt figured out this group deferred to him for guidance, despite his obviously strange mannerisms. "Hir'laz nelv lo'kan vek!" Before anyone could so much as blink, Kara had dashed out the back door into the early morning darkness.

"Daniel? Didn't I say not to scare her off?" Just as Jack and Teal'c were about to run after her, Kara reappeared at the door, a hesitant grin on her face and a small white metallic object in her hand. "Oh...hello. Welcome back, long time no see. Whatcha ya got there kiddo? Honestly, I kinda hope that's not a phaser or some nifty futuristic grenade." When Kara gently took his hand and laid it against the counter, Jack and the rest of his friends were only mildly surprised when the device she had in her hand started to glow pale white. The light itself felt warm, unthreatening, and Jack soon realized his wrist was whole once more moments later when the light died down. "Huh."

Kara nodded with satisfaction. "Dak'vel ves renl'in."

"Okay...I like her already. Thank you for that kid." Jack said as he flexed his fingers before rolling his wrist, nodding his approval when all he got back was a slight itch under his skin which quickly disappeared.

Daniel held up his hands at the sudden shift of mood from his friend. "_Okay_….what just happened? Is that their version of a Gao'uld healing device?"

"Pel'on vos hel'eck nich vek?" Quickly sitting back down in the seat on O'Neil's couch, Kara looked decidedly more cautious than she had been mere moments ago. "Va'shaun, nos gel'ein aer'est?" She stared at the floor for a moment after she had finished speaking, and it wasn't hard for Carter to notice how Kara nervously rubbed her hands together while she waited for their response.

"Translation please?" Jack asked, surprising Daniel at the almost concerned tone he had in his voice when he looked at the blonde. "I kind of got the impression she's wondering if we plan to eat her brain or something equally unpleasant."

"That _did _kind of sound like she was asking where she is and what we plan to do with her." Carter quickly supplied as she carefully sat near, but not _too _close, to the obviously worried young blonde. "Hey, we're not going to hurt you, I promise." Carter never took her eyes from Kara as she addressed Daniel. "So, what now Daniel? I think we can take it as a plus that she hasn't tried to run away or toss us across the room."

"Healed my wrist too. That she broke...but still, it's the thought that counts." Jack said with a shrug, rotating his wrist a few more times just to be sure it still worked properly before heading into the kitchen.

Ignoring Jack, Daniel was quick to answer her, making sure the group understood what they were in for. "Actually guys, right now we could say almost anything and it wouldn't matter. Just worry about body language and tone. It's interesting actually, did you know that spoken language only makes up ten per-"

"While that's fascinating Daniel, I'm more worried about trying to get us to understand each other. I'd rather not accidentally say something that might set her off." Because they had no idea what she was capable of, Samantha didn't want to find out the hard way. "Hello, I'm Samantha." Carter pointed to her chest before slowly pointing towards the others, one at a time. "That's Daniel, Teal'c, and last but not least, Jack."

"Hot chocolate's almost ready, you're doing great Carter! Keep it up." Sam sighed as O'Neill gave her a thumbs up before walking back into his kitchen.

"N't L'est Ack?" Kara hesitantly said as she pointed towards the kitchen door.

"Yeah...we'll work on that." Daniel sighed, having a pretty good idea of what Kara had tried to say, given Jack's unique sense of humor. "Let's try that again." Daniel tried not to smirk at the obvious mistake Sam had made while trying to share something as simple as their names. She should have focused solely on their names without the usual conversational pieces attached. "Daniel." He quickly pointed at himself first, waiting for Kara to respond.

The slightly annoyed look on Kara's face suggested she wasn't as 'dumb' as he thought as she exaggerated his name, no doubt on purpose as she crossed her arms under her chest just to further emphasize her annoyance. "_Dddaaannniiieeelll._"

"I believe that Kara Zor-El has already proved that she is far more intelligent than we realize Dr. Jackson. I would suggest you speak to her as you might one of us" Teal'c replied, one eyebrow raised in what passed for amusement from the Jaffa warrior.

"Good point. Okay, here goes, that's _Sam._" He quickly pointed to Teal'c next. "And this is _Teal'c._" O'Neill came back out of the kitchen just as Daniel jabbed his finger towards the door. "Great timing, _Jack_. That's _Jack, _by the way. Call him Not Least _Jack _and you're going to give him a bigger ego than he already has."

"Sam, Teal'c, ves Jack. Ves _Dddaanniiieeelll_." Kara replied, shaking her head, recognizing a joke when she heard one. Not only that, but she was still purposely over exaggerating Daniel's name, much to the doctor's annoyance.

"Oh, I think she _likes_ you Daniel." Carter snickered, unable to help herself since she had also picked up on the fact that she was annoyed with Daniel's earlier mistake of assuming she was simpler than she appeared. She wasn't one of the people from Abydos. From the ship outside in Jack's backyard and the healing device she had used on Jack's hand, he should have figured out that her people were intellectually superior if nothing else.

"Indeed, Major Carter. I too, also believe she is mildly annoyed with Dr. Jackson." Teal'c once again stated the obvious.

"I don't know about you Ddaanniieell, but I like this kid already. Here you go sweetheart, just be careful it's-" Jack winced as Kara took a large sip of the steaming hot chocolate, only to breath a small sigh of relief when she seemed fine. "-hot. Huh."

"She must have a higher tolerance to heat and cold than we do. Oh, you too Teal'c, unless you've been chugging coffee behind my back in the mess that is." Daniel's comment only got an inquisitive look from the Jaffa as he turned back to Kara. He wanted to ask a question and didn't know how to say it, and pantomiming would likely end up inviting trouble from Jack's sense of 'humor'. "Kara, the craft you arrived in, where did it come from?" He even resorted to the dreaded pantomimes to get his point across as he mimicked her pod crashing in the woods with his hands. "You know...whooshh...boom!"

From the look on Kara's face, she found his pantomime about as funny as she found his over exaggeration. Which was to say, she found them equally offensive to her intelligence. "Revkar sev'lek ja'cel, _Daniel_?"

"I don't think I need you to translate that Daniel. No Kara, he's not mentally impaired, although the thought has crossed my mind a couple times." Jack chimed in, earning an increasingly frustrated look from Daniel with every word out of the two. For all intents and purposes, Jack and Kara could have been cut from the same cloth.

"Please excuse me for a moment." Teal'c quickly left the room, only to return moments later to sit across from Kara and Sam, a note pad and marker in his hands. He set them on the small table between them after drawing a crude picture on the pad. "I believe this will be a more effective means of communication at the moment Daniel Jackson."

Kara smiled with obvious gratitude and relief, probably because someone around her finally showed a spark of common sense and good judgment. "Va'shaun, Teal'c." The muttered words that followed didn't need a translation either as she shot a glare at Daniel before putting the notebook on her lap.

"You are most welcome, Kara Zor-El." Teal'c replied, once again nodding his head to the young blonde.

After a few moments of figuring out how the marker worked, Kara rapidly drew an interesting image for them. Horrifying might have been a better word, as their jaws, save for Teal'c's, dropped on shock when she tapped at the picture she had drawn with the marker. "Krypton." From the way the planet's land masses were shattered and falling off of her homeworld, the group quickly realized she had survived her planet's destruction by being sent to another.

"She must have been sent off world to save her. They somehow predicted their world's destruction and took measures to preserve their way of life and their people." Carter said as Kara drew another picture, showing her asleep as she drifted through space. Hers wasn't the only pod as Carter took another look at the first picture, having mistaken several cylindrical images much like the tube outside for pieces of debris at first glance. When she realized her mistake, Carter's eyes opened wide in excitement. "Her people sent possibly dozens of pods like hers off to distant corners of the universe. Incredible, truly incredible."

"Here, can I see that for a sec?" Jack asked, as he gestured towards the notepad in Kara's hands. Kara nodded in understanding and leaned forward, handing the items off before leaning back, but not before picking up the cup of chocolate from the table she had been given earlier.

Taking a much slower and measured sip from her cup, Kara's enthusiastic response didn't need a translation. "Va'shuan, Jack. Gez'on rels nev'ek!" Her beaming smile said it all.

"Don't tell me, she likes the hot chocolate?" Jack smirked as he drew a rather simple picture for her, mainly because he wasn't exactly the best artist in the world, but he thought he got the point across at least. "Here. See, that's you, _Kara_, and these stickfigure guys watching your back, that's _us_." He waved towards the others for emphasis.

The giggle that escaped the young woman's mouth was preceded by a nod of understanding despite the horrible rendering.

Daniel blinked his eyes several times at how easily Jack had gotten through to the girl before shaking his head in defeat. "Let me get this straight. It turns out Jack is a better communicator than I am? Huh. So this is what going insane feels like."

"No offense Daniel, but it is pretty late for us, and we had a busy day yesterday. You're not at your best." Samantha was quick to say to sooth the doctor's understandably bruised ego. Like any accomplished scientist, he took pride in his work, and communication and translation was his bread and butter.

Jackson started rubbing at his temples as he watched the young girl continued sketching. "I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not Sam."

A constant tapping caught their attention as they turned to see Kara using the marker to point something out in one of her pictures.

"Oh boy. I think I know what's she's asking." Carter frowned, the excitement having disappeared from her face at what Kara no doubt wanted to know.

"Uh huh. So, should we draw straws or something to see who gets to tell her the not so great news?" Jack deadpanned, but it was easy to see there was no humor in his pained expression.

"From the emphasis she is putting on the pods surrounding her own, I believe she wishes to know if more of her kind have arrived here." Teal'c stated calmly, as he leaned forward to take the pad from Kara. "I will inform her of the unfortunate truth of the situation."

Kara figured it out for herself long before Teal'c tried as she put a hand on his and shook her head. She had seen the truth on Jack's face. "Va'shaun….Jack, ves Teal'c." She pointed to herself with a now mildly shaking hand. "Lek vas'shal Kryptonian eshe?"

"Yes, just you sweetheart." Jack couldn't quite bring himself to look into the young girl's frightened blue eyes. "I'm sorry we don't have better news for you Kara." It was almost as bad as delivering the the terrible news of the deaths of men and women under his command to their grieving families. At least in those cases, he knew their fates, and could bring the families affected some closure. In Kara's case however, they didn't have a clue as to the fate of whoever might have gotten off her world before it went up in flames.

"Hey, it's alright, just let it out." O'Neill wasn't the only one in the room with a concerned look on his face as Kara spontaneously hugged Sam, who had since pulled the deep blue eyed girl closer out of a maternal or sisterly instinct. She was just as surprised by her actions as the three men were.

O'Neill was already waving Teal'c off as he moved to stand, quietly speaking to Sam as he edged slightly closer to the pair. "Carter...just slowly see if you can-"

"Like hell sir." Superhuman level of strength or not, Kara seemed aware she needed to be careful even in her current emotional state as she quietly sobbed into Samantha's shoulder. "You're going to be alright Kara. We'll figure something out."

"I'll go see if I have any food in the fridge, maybe a hot meal will cheer her up a little. Daniel...tissues and a couple blankets. Teal'c...just keep on being your calm, serene self around her, she seems to like that." Jack finally said before disappearing into the kitchen again.

"Indeed." It was amazing just how many different inflections the Jaffa warrior could give that one simple word. The current iteration was almost sorrowful compared to most. He understood what it was like not being able to return home.

Daniel practically shot out of his chair, hurriedly looking for the closest box of tissues before deciding on where to get the requested, some might say ordered, blankets. "You got it, um...should I just take the blankets off your bed or-"

"I don't care, just get the damn blankets!" Jack's terse whisper from the partially open kitchen door rapidly softened when he swore he saw Kara flinch ever so slightly next to Sam. "Surprise me Daniel."

"Please let me know if you are uncomfortable Major Carter, and I will endeavor to distract her for you." The Jaffa offered.

"She's fine Teal'c, but thank you." Carter replied, noticing that the quiet sobs had started to subside. Again, she was reminded of Cassandra's early days on Earth as Sam rubbed the young woman's back in slow, comforting circles.

"As you wish." Teal's bowed his head and returned to his ordered vigil. The morning light would find him unmoved unless O'Neill or Carter said otherwise. Out of everyone on Earth, Teal'c was _the_ most reliable and dependable man you could ever meet.

"Okay, here we go, huh... with aloe, good taste Jack." Jackson mumbled nervously to himself, glancing at the box of tissues before handing it to Sam. With only a brief moment of hesitation, he ever so gently managed to get a warm blanket over the both of them without disturbing the distraught girl next to her.

"Va'shaun, Daniel." Kara said, slowly peeling herself away from Carter before pulling the blanket tightly over herself. The tissues she also seemed familiar with as she pulled one from the box and dabbed at her eyes.

"You're welcome Kara, but I think we need to expand your vocabulary a little." One glare from Carter at his innocent joke was enough to get Daniel to be quiet.

A tense fifteen minutes followed, only interrupted by a few loud bangs and quiet curses from the kitchen, as Jack triumphantly displayed his creation to them after cautiously entering the living room again.

"Um...what is that?" Daniel asked, having a feeling he didn't want to know what Jack had brought back from his kitchen.

"What is _that_?" Jack looked down at the large ceramic pot in his hands before giving Daniel an insulted expression. "_That _is my grandfather's secret recipe for baked bean chile. You turn your nose up to this, you're not _only_ insulting me, you're insulting generations of O'Neill's."

"I'm not sure what's more surprising, that you can 'cook', or that you have a grandfather." Daniel muttered under his breath, unaware he received a strange look from Kara as he pushed his glasses further up on his nose.

"It smells terrible sir." Samantha stated flatly, unsure if she'd feed a starving dog the slop in the pot, let alone an alien girl that just found out she had been orphaned.

Of course, everyone had their opinion, and a surprised hint of a smile on Kara's face showed she didn't care how it smelled. It seemed a hot meal was _all_ she cared about, and that was enough for her, regardless of what it looked like, or where it had come from for that matter.

Jack gave Kara his best charming smile and a nod of appreciation, as he started ladling out the chili into bowls for all of them. "I see someone appreciates my culinary efforts. I don't think she much cares Carter. For all we know, this is the first meal she's had in a few years...or centuries."

"It would make sense. We have no way of knowing how long she was out there before she crashed here." Carter quickly reached for the notepad and drew a simple model of the solar system, making a point of circling Earth's position, showing its orbit and then repeating the orbit several times. Kara made several small marks around the orbital line, apparently Krypton had a ten month cycle. "That's right, one solar orbit equals a year, or whatever you'd call it." Carter repeated the orbit once. "Year." Then ten times. "Decade." Next she quickly jotted out a grid made up of hundred small dots. "Century."

"I get the feeling she knows what you're trying to ask her." Jack deadpanned again, as Kara took a break from stuffing her face to take the offered pen and notebook back before marking out her home's orbital cycle. At Samantha's repeated inquiry however, Kara could only shrug.

"You don't know?" Carter asked, earning a solemn shake of Kara's head. "If she was in stasis the entire time, that would make sense sir."

"Like she just went to sleep on this 'Krypton' of hers and woke up with a bunch of curious primitive natives standing over her." Daniel smirked at his rather spot on analogy, used to being on the other side of that equation more often than not on most of the worlds they traveled to. "Gotta hand it to her, she took that a lot better than I would have."

"_She_...is...here." The haltingly spoken words were enough to make everyone else fall silent for several seconds.

"Holy sh-" Jack barely caught himself in time as he stared at Kara in shock. "Did you just pick up basic English from listening to us for, what, an hour?"

"Um….y-yes?" The sarcasm needed no translation, but the look on Kara's face was one of relief as she realized that she had gotten through the language barrier, at least to some small degree thus far.

"She's incredibly, _brilliantly_ intelligent. It's astounding." Carter said in awe, before looking mildly embarrassed. "Sorry for talking down to you."

"No...sorry, Sam. Not...um..." Kara gave a frustrated huff as she still lacked a decent vocabulary to work from.

"I think she's trying to say she's had to do this before, learn a new language I mean." Daniel said as he tried to find a dictionary or a thesaurus book of some kind, until an idea hit him as he went to his bag and pulled out his portable laptop. "You probably don't have WiFi, do you Jack?"

"Hold that thought, I think I know where you're going with this Daniel." Jack practically ran out of the room with no explanation, although Carter already had a good idea what he was looking for.

Daniel also had a pretty good idea what Jack was looking for, but he decided to use the time he likely had to give Kara a leg up in basic English. "O...kay. I know we haven't exactly gotten off on a good foot Kara, but today I am going to teach you our ABC's. Let's get started shall we?"

"Have you ever done that before Daniel?" Carter didn't doubt the man's abilities when it came to understanding and translating different languages in any form after only a few hours of studying them, if not less, but understanding and teaching were two different things.

"Not recently. The people on Abydos were receptive to some degree. And I clearly have a gifted pupil this time." Daniel replied as he picked up the notebook and pen on his way to Kara's side on the couch. "Hi there, okay, these symbols..." Jackson quickly wrote out the alphabet in big, easy to read block letters for the girl. When she rolled his eyes at him, Daniel sighed and made them a bit smaller. "Happy?"

"Yes, _Ddaanniieell_." Sarcasm aside, the amused glint in her large blue eyes was all the response he needed.

"You two should get along _just _great, Daniel." Carter chuckled at the annoyed look on Daniel's face while Kara got the hint that she was poking fun at the man on her right. The amused smirk on her lips was proof of her understanding, as limited as it was.

"I believe that Kara Zor-El agrees with you Major Carter." Teal'c replied, having noted the smirk on the blonde's face from across the table.

"Alright, _Kkaarraa_, let's get started." Daniel tapped at the second, lowercase letter before going back to the upper case one he had written down, hoping to get her at least to G before Jack got back from noisily ripping his cabin apart for whatever he was looking for. Getting them back on track, he tapped at the first letter. "This is what we call an 'A'. The first letter of our twenty six symbol alphabet. Uppercase, lowercase….we'll get to that."

"Ah." Kara nodded, paying close attention to him now.

"No, A." Jackson sighed at the smirk on Kara's face, quicking getting that she had played him yet again. "...Oh, great. How do I tell you this will go faster without the sarcasm?"

"No...stark'casm?" Kara quickly nodded her head, grinning as Carter crossed her fingers before copying the odd gesture.

Carter was doing her best not to laugh at Daniel's deepening frown. It was a losing battle, but she tried as she bit her tongue and watched things progress between Kara and Dr. Jackson.

"Alright _Caarrttteeer_. You two are giving me a splitting headache. Let's speed things up. AEE, BEE, CEE, DEE, EEE, EPH, GEE, AECH, AYE, JAY, KAY, EL, EMM, ENN, OH, PEE, QUE, ARR, ESS, TEE, YEW, VEE, DUBELYEW, ECSSS , WHY, and ZEE."

"A, B , C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, ves Z" Kara replied, having clearly grasped the basics of their phonetic alphabet after only hearing and seeing it once.

"Now you know your ABC's, next time won't you tell me when I'm missing out on this stuff?" Jack sing songed as he walked back into the living room. "And sorry that took so long. My filing system seems to have gone slightly escue. As in, I don't have one." Jack grinned and proudly held up a large red book in his hands. "Thank you, Websters. Some light reading for you kid. Enjoy. Consider it the first of many awesome gifts."

"You call that light reading sir?" Carter asked, an amused smirk on her face despite the genius behind the simple gift as Jack called it. If she was half as smart as Carter suspected, Kara would likely read the book in a week. If she had been able to pick up basic English in an hour, as well as their alphabet in a matter of minutes, who knew how far her intelligence reached.

"Va'shaun Jack...it...awesome gift?" Kara replied as she opened the book on the table after moving her half completed plate of chile to the side, having forgotten about it during Daniel's lesson. Finding the first entry her eyes fell on, the girl's eyebrows shot up as she tried to sound out the word. "Aard'var'k?"

"An Earth based animal. You nearly got the pronunciation right on the first shot. Keep going..." Even Daniel was starting to catch to how smart she was as he beckoned her to keep going, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. She truly was astonishing in every sense of the word.

"There you go kid, now don't stop until you get to zymurgy, that's one of my personal favorite subjects." Jack grinned at the look Carter gave him, and pretended she was irked for different reason. "Yes, I know that isn't the last word in the modern dictionary Carter. It's an old version, sue me."

Carter crossed her arms, already knowing Jack was going to do his very best to corrupt their naive young visitor. "Maybe we can skip that one sir."

"Now, let's not censor her brilliant young mind, or are you going to take that black marker to redact everything you'd rather not have her find in there? Tsk tsk Carter." O'Neill shook his finger with a look of mock disappointment.

"Kryptonians….not..._afraid_ of..._affection_." Kara deadpanned without looking up from the page she was on.

"There you have it then. The kid's up to speed already. You gonna eat the rest of that? I don't want you _anorexic _young lady. Don't worry, you'll get to that one soon." Jack chuckled as Kara rolled her eyes at him, but set aside the giant dictionary in favor of his chile. "If you're going to be like that though, I can put it away for a bit, unless you like the occasional fly in your chile."

"I _ate_ now, I um...?" It seemed her insatiable curiosity was only matched by her insatiable hunger.

"You _promise_. I got ya. And damn straight you'll _ate _now." Jack's grin widened as Kara laughed with a mouthful of chile. His grin faltered a little as he met Carter and Teal'c's respective gazes, knowing what they were thinking since it had crossed his mind already. "While I have your _attention _kid, remember that crappy picture I drew you? That was a _promise _too, also known as an _affirmation_, you know, if you don't want to wait until you get to P."

Jackson was quick to catch onto O'Neill's line of thought, even though he didn't come right out and say it. "The only problem is that not everyone on our world is….so accepting Kara. If you're going to trust anyone, it would probably be best if you stuck with us." Daniel hesitantly explained, hating to admit that much of the human race was so horribly divided that they couldn't see past their own skin color, or political and religious beliefs half the time. In their line of work, it was usually a combination of all three, except the Goa'uld didn't care what you looked like, only that you weren't one of them.

Kara confirmed that she understood all too well what Daniel was saying. "Your...people are still..._adolescents_. Your people not...alone in um... _arrogant? Apart?_"

"Close enough kid. Homo Arrogantis might as well be our second name. Galactic life in all of its wonderful strife eh?" Jack deadpanned once more, earning a reluctant nod from the young blonde. "So, we aren't the only uncivilized idiots out there, good to know. Makes me feel so much better about our violent little blue rock."

"Personally, I think it's time for someone to..." Carter paged ahead in the dictionary and stuck her finger under a certain definition. "Slumber? Is there a page missing from this thing? Where's sleep?"

"On the couch next to you Carter?" Jack said, the first to notice Kara had dozed off right there on the couch between her and Daniel. "A hot meal, a warm blanket and good company. Works like a charm, huh?"

"Indeed." Teal'c stated, the barest hint of a smile on his face as he visibly seemed to relax, reclining deeper in his chair and showing no signs of leaving anytime soon. On some unspoken command, it seemed that the Jaffa had taken it upon himself to guard the young Kryptonian while she slept, leaving Jack, Daniel, and Carter to clean up the table.

Jack quietly took in what could almost be called a comical scene, if it weren't for the fact that he was mildly concerned about men in black suits bursting into the room at any moment. "Well kids, looks like we're gonna need a few more blankets. You can have the bed Carter, I'm going to dig out my old sleeping bag. Hope you like that seat Daniel, it's your new home until she wakes up." It gave him an excuse to use the key he still had in his pocket to seal up Kara's pod while he was looking around for said sleeping bag.

Carter took one look at the sleeping girl and grabbed a couch pillow, placing it behind her head. "With all due respect sir, I think I'll stay out here. It's nice to see she's resting peacefully, I wouldn't want to wake her up."

Daniel looked up then and turned to a quickly departing Jack. The hopeful look on his face said it all. "Um...in _that_ case, about the bed-"

"Nope." Jackson got a faceful of pillow and blanket as Jack offered another blanket to Teal'c, who, unsurprisingly, politely refused the offer.

"I had a feeling you'd say that." Was all Daniel said as he got comfortable. It wasn't the worst sleeping arrangement he had ever had at least.

It was hard to miss the concerned look in Jack's eyes as he stared at his new house guest for a moment. While he had no doubt she was a good kid at heart, who knew what she remembered of her home and what she had endured to get to where she was now. "You sure sleeping next to her on that couch is a good idea Carter? Kid might have a nightmare or something."

Carter understood Jack's concern, but she shook her head before quietly replying to him. "Possibly, but I don't believe we have anything to worry about sir."

"Carter. That couch is like my favorite. Ever. Of all time. And I'm desperately hoping it's still going to be in one piece in the morning." It didn't take a mind reader to know Jack was far more concerned for the people under his roof than some old piece of furniture.

"Uh huh. You could just say you care Jack." It seemed it was Daniel's turn to deliver a deadpan response, much to Jack's annoyance as he switched the lights off, save for a hall light.

Instead of admitting anything of the sort, Jack stopped by his bedroom door and shot Jackson a glare in the dark room. "Lights out, that means no talking."

A single word, laced with wry amusement, was just loud enough to be heard in the now dimly lit room. "Indeed."

**Endnotes:** _Nomad-117: So this was the first chapter, hope you all liked it. I don't know how all of this will turn out but it will be one hell of a ride._

_Vergil1989; Once again, we owe Nomad-117 a lot of thanks for this awesome idea. I don't know how he came up with this one, I just know that it's very good, and I'm quite exciting to continue this. It probably helps I'm a damn SG-1 nerd, almost as badly as Star Wars lol. Joking aside, we hope you've enjoyed the start to this unique spin on one of the best sci-fi shows ever conceived._

_Archer83; What Vergil said. But seriously, this this been a blast to write and I find myself itching to continue this story as well. Nomad-117 seems to come up with crazy, awesome, exciting ideas everyday so don't be surprised if you happen to see another story inspired by his imagination on my profile or Vergil's. As always, we appreciate thoughtful feedback, so send in those PMs and reviews and tell us what you thought of this latest collaboration with Nomad!_


	2. An Unexpected Family

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Family

Around ten the next morning, most of the team were already up and about, save for Teal'c, and unsurprisingly, Kara. Jackson had since gone outside to take photographs of the pod, finding the lid was back in place, which didn't surprise him at all. He rightly assumed that Jack was doing his best to keep Kara's discovery a secret the only way he could think of, and that was to make it look like they hadn't found anyone to begin with.

"Old, kinda morbid, buddy of mine became a small town ME after the first Gulf war. He, _painstakingly_ I might add, walked me through how to properly cover up a murder. Destroying crime scene evidence 101. Never thought I'd find a use for that particular drunken lecture." O'Neill just shrugged as Daniel blinked at him in shock.

"Remind me never to make you mad enough to bury me in the woods Jack. I might _want _to be found later." Jackson finally said, shivering at the images that came to mind from O'Neill's admission. "I take it you removed anything useful or incriminating before you sealed it back up?"

"Found a few more doohickies that she can likely make use of while I was at it." O'Neill held up a large dark green crystal "These weird crystals too. Figure Carter will think it's Christmas in January."

Jackson crossed his arms and frowned, mildly irritated with his rather presumptuous friend. His mood wasn't much improved from being exiled to O'Neill's uncomfortable chair last night. "Uh huh. Or you could give it back to Kara first. It _is _hers after all."

"Hmm...alright, you got a point I suppose." Jack casually tossed the crystal into the small collection of items he had salvaged, stuffing the pile into a duffel bag. "Probably a paper weight for all I know."

"Or something to remember her family by." Daniel countered, shaking his head in annoyance as he turned back to the pod. He was determined to figure out the writing, one way or the other.

"Enough with the guilt trip Daniel." Jack waved his hand in defeat. It was about that time that Carter came out with Jack's cordless phone. "Hammond?" He asked, earning a nod from the woman before taking the phone from her. "General? I had the _strangest_ feeling you'd call."

General Hammond of the SGC barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Jack's opening line. "I can't imagine why Colonel. I've received reports of a meteor shower in your area early this morning. Just wanted to ask if everything was alright, I'd hate to see you taken out by a piece of space junk after the close call you and Teal'c went through recently with the prototype."

Unable to help himself, Jack grinned as he walked back towards the house. "Everything's alright on this end sir. Have a couple of new holes in my backyard, but nothing major. Had one rock knock down my favorite tree though."

"I see. So long as everything's alright Colonel, I'll expect you and Teal'c back on active duty by Monday at 0600. But until then, I am hereby ordering you to relax Jack." The good General knew exactly how little time Jack usually took for himself and he damn well wasn't going to see O'Neill wasting any of his hard earned leave.

"Oh, I'm sure we can manage General." Carter rolled her eyes at Jack's perpetual grin before she disappeared into his cabin, having noticed Kara stirring on the couch. "Can't remember the last time I had such a stress free week. See you Monday morning sir."

"Good to hear Colonel." Hammond replied in an amused tone, before finally hanging up.

Jack quickly followed Carter in the house, intent on at least showing her what he'd found in the pod, before spotting a yawning Kara sitting on his couch. "Good morning sleepy head. You look bright eyed and bushy tailed."

Kara grinned and hesitantly returned his greeting, looking mildly embarrassed for some reason. "Good morning Jack. Where...is the um…"

"Second door on the left." When she cocked her head in mild confusion, he just pointed to the bathroom door. "Try not to use all the hot water would ya?" Jack's grin widened as the girl earnestly nodded at his joke.

"I will do my best" She grinned before standing to her feet.

"You're mastering the English language even faster than I thought. It's truly incredible." Daniel said, his voice filled with open astonishment and awe.

"Va'sh- thank you, Daniel." The young blonde replied earnestly to Jackson's astounded praise.

"If you need help Kara, just ask." Carter chimed in, having been the first to realize that if her society was so technologically advanced, chances were their facilities had followed a similar course.

"Um...maybe we should unplug anything electrical just to be safe?" Jack asked before throwing a pillow at Teal'c, who caught it out of the air without opening his eyes. "Just checkin' big fella. Nice catch."

"Already ahead of you sir." Carter said with a confident wink, taking a sip of her coffee as she watched the young blonde head out of the living room. Besides a few shouted curses in her native tongue when she no doubt turned on the cold water by accident, Kara didn't stick her head out of the bathroom to ask for any assistance.

"Huh. She reminds me of someone." Jack said, making it a point to look at Teal'c.

"I have no idea who you are referring to O'Neill." Teal'c calmly said, still as a statue as he continued his Kelno'reem.

"Hey, I know Kara's brilliant and all, but did someone unplug all the- what?" Jackson quizzically asked as his three friends stared at him.

"I handled it Daniel, no worries." Carter reassured her fellow scientist.

"Nice to see we have that creepy ESP thing still goin' for us Carter." Jack's ears perked up at a very familiar sound. "Anyone else hear that?" He knew what it was even before he finished asking his question. After his son had passed away, after he had all but pulled the trigger himself, he had heard his wife crying herself to sleep more times than he could count.

Teal'c rarely appeared anything but solemn and calm, but this was one of the few times it was easy for them to see the pained expression on his face. The only thing that came close was when he had first found out about his wife and son being labeled as traitors when he had discovered their home burned to the ground on Chulak. "I believe she is mourning the passing of her home world O'Neill. She must have assumed the sound of the running water would disguise her sobs."

"Do you think someone should go in there?" Daniel asked, looking to Carter as he said it. She was the only other woman in the house after all, and would probably be able to handle a delicate situation like this far better than the rest of them.

"I don't think so Daniel, she needs her space." Carter sighed as she glanced towards the bathroom door. "Right now, I don't think it will do any harm to let her believe that _we _believe the brave front she's putting up for us."

"In other words, act natural until she opens up to us." Daniel stated as he opened up his laptop before plugging his digital camera into the USB jack. He began the process of uploading the pictures for later.

"Hello." Jack waved his hand to get everyone's attention. "You guys _do _realize she probably just heard all of that right?" O'Neill paused in thought as if having a small epiphany in his living room. "Huh...so _this _is what it feels like to be the smartest person in the room. Weird."

To break the uncomfortable silence that had settled in after listening to Kara´s sobs, O'Neill gave the bag with the pod's contents to Carter. "Figured you would like to check this out." He added nonchalantly. "Any ideas what they are or do, besides the fancy healing thing she waved around?"

The Major immediatly started to look through the various items, including the fascinating device Kara had used to heal O'Neill only hours before. Even from across the room as she had been at the time, Carter had noticed a distinct difference between hers and a typical Goa'uld device. For one, the Goa'uld device had always felt slightly….malevolent for lack of a better word, but Kara's had felt anything but. "Well, I can only speculate, but if we assume that this is part of her people's technology based on the pod's design, then I would say that the crystals are most likely similar to the ones the Tok'ra use." She mumbled thoughtfully. "These two are damaged." She stated when she saw fine cracks in a long, thin red crystal, and the dangerously large cracks in a short, thick white crystal. "That's all I can say without further analyzing them. But I think we should ask her first before we decide what to do with something that belongs to her." Said Carter evenly while staring into the Colonel's eyes. "I won't betray her trust, sir."

"Whoa Carter, it's me, Colonel Jack O'Neill, not some shady NID agent who only cares about alien toys." O'Neill replied defending himself against the clear insinuation in Carter´s words.

"I'm sorry sir." Carter immediately apologized once she realized that she made a good impression of the Inquisition.

"Well, look at you Carter, you barely know her and you already act like a mother hen." Answered O'Neill with a grin.

"I always suspected that Major Carter was in the possession of a highly developed maternal instinct." Added Teal'c helpfully from his seat.

The sudden loud rapping on O'Neill's front door was enough to make anyone except Teal'c jump in surprise. "Oh great, Agents J and K are here even sooner than I expected." Just as he was getting up from his chair, Kara stuck her head out of the bathroom, a worried look on her face. "Don't worry kid, probably just a nosy neighbor."

"You are not a good liar Jack." Kara replied before disappearing into the bathroom again.

"I see someone was busy reading while we slept. How is she not exhausted? Okay, battlestations everyone..." O'Neill bared stopped himself from facepalming as their resident Jaffa warrior dropped into a fighting stance. "Teal'c, that was a joke. It's just the doc. Granted, she looks pissed, but I think we're safe... ish." Opening the door, he did his best not to grimace as Janet Fraiser glared up into his face with barely contained frustration. "Hey Doc, I was just meaning to catch up on our appoin-"

"Save it Colonel. I didn't fly all this way to hear your excuses. Besides, I brought someone that wanted to see you and the team. One of which snuck away in the night alongside Doctor Jackson and Major Carter before _his _next checkup." O'Neill hid his internal grimace well as Janet marched into the living room, followed closely by a beaming Cassandra.

"Hi Uncle Jack!" The young alien girl that they had rescued years earlier lightly hugged Jack, not noticing as Carter subtly handed a fresh set of clothes through the barely open bathroom door.

"Well hey there Cassandra!" Jack made a show of looking the young smiling teen up and down. "You got big sweetie, and _amazingly _beautiful to boot."

"I'm sixteen Jack. What'd you expect?" Cassandra blushed despite her sarcastic response.

"Ponytails?" Gently pulling away from the young woman, Jack met Janet's gaze, and he knew she had noticed Carter going to the bathroom door. "Again, sorry Doc. Whaddya say we just get this silly check up out of the way huh?"

"Fine Colonel...shall we use your bathroom?" Fraiser asked with a quirked eyebrow.

O'Neill already knew they were in trouble as he blurted out his response. "Bedroom's fine."

"Colonel….Jack, I already know you're harboring someone in your bathroom. Major Carter isn't as subtle as she thinks." Janet threw a brief smile to Sam, who only shook her head as she walked away from the door. "What's going on this time?"

Seeing no point in deceiving Fraiser, Teal'c was the first to answer the doctor's question. "We have welcomed another orphan to this world, much like Cassandra, Doctor Fraiser. Kara Zor-El. She is understandably frightened, but she seems to be adjusting to her new situation far better than expected."

"Va'shaun...Teal'c, but I can speak for myself." Kara said as she hesitantly stepped out of the bathroom. She was dressed in another of Jack's flannel shirts and a pair of gray sweat pants, but she didn't seem to notice as she wrapped her arms around herself for a moment before letting them fall to her side, turning to Jack. "And yes, I did hear everything you said out here."

"And what was that, if you don't mind my asking?" Janet asked with a mix of curiosity and deadly glare thrown Jack's way before turning to face Kara. "I'm Doctor Janet Fraiser by the way, and this..." Cassandra gave Kara a friendly wave as her mother motioned towards her. "...is my daughter, Cassandra. It's nice to meet you Kara."

Taking the same spot on the couch she had slept in last night, Kara looked towards the two new arrivals with interest, knowing that Jack wouldn't have let them stay around if he didn't trust them explicitly. Besides, behind his pained grimace, he looked genuinely happy to see them. "It is a pleasure to meet more of Jack's allies and friends. I'm supposed to tell you I'm from 'Canada'..." O'Neill facepalmed as Kara made massive air quotes. "...but I think we both know that's not true."

"Toronto was my cover story." Cassandra supplied, earning a nod from the newest member of their strange little family.

Finding Kara to be of far more immediate interest, Fraiser didn't have to ask Daniel to move out of the way as she sat down next to the young blonde. "I am honored that _you're _willing to trust me Kara. And that you respected my intelligence enough to tell me the truth." Casting a quick glance towards the rest of SG-1, Janet's frown instantly morphed into a smile the moment she focused on Kara again. "Did you come down during the meteor shower last night?"

"Yes. But I believe that the 'meteor shower' was debris from the engine section of my escape pod. I haven't gotten around to looking at my pod to be sure. It's been an...interesting first day so far on your world."

"Indeed." Teal'c said, an eyebrow raised in solemn agreement.

"I bet, especially if you wound up with Jack and his team." Janet said before her smile faltered slightly. "Kara, I understand you haven't been here long, but there are some tests, totally harmless I promise, that-"

"You need to make sure I'm not dangerous in some form or another. I understand. My...people would have also asked such tests performed for any first time visitors."

"Just don't stand in front of her if you're planning on testing her reflexes doc. Girl's got a mean right hook." Jack deadpanned, scratching the back of his neck before settling into his seat again.

"Right hook?" Kara asked, having not gotten as far into the dictionary as she would have liked before sleep had claimed her.

"That's just Jack's sense of humor at work." Daniel sighed, having built an immunity to said sense of humor over the years.

"She just threw me at a tree, minor misunderstanding is all. Speaking of which...I'd bet the Doc here would give anything to take a look at your little doohickey in action Kara. Makes a Goa'uld healing device look like a parlor trick." To her credit, Fraiser merely raised an eyebrow at Jack's comment, uncertain if she should take it at face value or not.

Carter quickly nodded in agreement. "I have to agree with his assessment, Janet. I've never been comfortable with using Goa'uld hand devices. Kara's however, is something else altogether. I actually felt warm and I wasn't even on the receiving end."

Seeing the intense curiosity on Janet's face, Teal'c asked the obvious question for her, knowing the kind hearted Doctor wouldn't be one to press the issue. "Perhaps you would allow it to be demonstrated for Doctor Fraiser at a later time?"

"I hope it won't be needed anytime soon." Kara worriedly said, taking the excitement out of the room with those simple words.

"Glad to see you're cautious for a girl your age Kara, unlike some people I could name." Cassandra stuck her tongue out at her mother's obvious verbal jab. "First things first, I'd like to give you a basic physical. I'd also prefer to take a blood sample for thorough analyses." Janet forestalled the many objections she could tell were coming from Jack and Carter any moment now. "There's a friend of mine I could send it to with no one back at base being any wiser. I trust him to give me, and _only _me, the results for a 'unique patient study.'"

"Of course Doctor, I just hope you won't need much." It was hard to miss the look of squeamishness on Kara's face, which she rapidly tried to hide from them.

"Afraid of needles Kara?" Cassandra asked, earning an annoyed glare from the blonde across from her. "It was only a question."

Janet glared at her grinning daughter before giving Kara a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'll only take a very small amount."

"Only this much." Jack held up his large coffee mug with a grin. Which vanished the nanosecond he caught Fraiser's furious gaze. "Kidding! Um...Doc, we can skip that check up right?"

"Nice try Jack. You're next. Teal'c, make sure he doesn't disappear please." Janet said as she stood from the couch and put a hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Would you mind following me Kara? It shouldn't take long. I'm borrowing your bedroom Colonel. Please have a seat, I'll be with you shortly."

Janet smirked over her shoulder as Teal'c promptly pressed O'Neill into his La-z-boy and stood over him, the faintest hint of a smug look on his eternally stoic face. "Et tu, Teal'c? A bit overkill dontcha think?"

"I do not believe so O'Neill. Doctor Fraiser's considerable wrath is something I would wish to avoid if at all possible."

"He has you there Colonel." Sam chuckled into her own cup of coffee, the smirk on her face saying all she wanted to say even if she agreed with Teal'c's assessment. An angry Doctor Fraiser was the last thing you wanted directed at you.

"Why do I get the feeling today is going to be a lot more exciting than usual?" Cassandra asked the room in general.

Daniel grinned at Jack's new Jaffa babysitter before answering for him. "Cass, that is a massive understatement if I ever heard one."

A loud yelp of surprise instantly caught their collective attention, but Janet already had the door to Jack's bedroom open, holding out a calming hand towards them before anyone had moved more than a few paces. "We're fine but your ceiling might need some...work."

"Aw man...I _just _painted in there last summer!" Throwing his hands in the air, Jack's exasperation didn't last long as Teal'c calmly stared at him. He got the impression that if he'd tried to use the situation to his advantage, like he was thinking of doing right now, Teal'c would tie him to the chair next. "I guess it's not that big a deal...just some plaster probably."

"Indeed." O'Neill really had to wonder how Teal'c made such a simple, innocuous word sound like a threat.

"When you're done talking, I think you might want to know what I've learned so far. As you're no doubt aware, Kara is quite cooperative, maybe even a little too polite at times. As for her physical well being, she's the healthiest person I've ever come across. Even by your high standards Teal'c, she appears in perfect health and is much stronger than any species we've come across. I'd have to do a more thorough examination to be sure, but from what I've seen already, I highly doubt she _can _get sick. And blood work is out for the simple reason that the needle I tried to use broke on contact. Her skin is _incredibly _resilient."

"What happened before, Janet? You scared us there for a sec." Carter asked with a frown, more out of curiosity than concern at this point.

"Um...that was my fault." Kara said as she stood in the doorway, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she held out the reflex hammer she had kicked into the ceiling by accident. "She was testing my reflex response and well...after the fifth time she tapped my knee and I didn't feel anything...she started to look worried. So..." Kara glanced at the floor, not able to look Fraiser in the eye. "...I might have overreacted a little the next time, so that I didn't upset her further. I can only apologize for scaring you."

"So you decided to speed things along. Kara it's alright, you only startled me. As I said, she is overly polite, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing." Janet was quick to add as she pulled the young girl into a one armed hug.

"I break a lamp and get yelled at. She puts a hole in Jack's ceiling and gets a hug. Real fair mom." Cassandra playfully groused as she rolled her eyes at her highly compassionate mother.

"I know what we're doing, we're signing this kid up for baseball the first chance we get. On that note, if not for those lovely NID jackholes, we wouldn't have a pod to bury today." Jack realized too late that was a bad choice of words when Kara visibly flinched. "Ah crap. Too soon?"

"Yup." Daniel just shook his head at O'Neill's usual stunning lack of tact and common sense at times. "And sure Jack, let's let her show off in public. What's the worst that could happen? Right?"

Ignoring the barbs being thrown back and forth by Daniel and Jack, Carter watched Janet lead Kara back to the couch. "I think it might have been sir." When Janet looked her way, the quizzical expression on her face was answered by Carter a moment later. "Kara's world….we don't know the details, only that her people sent her away so she didn't die when it suffered some kind of catastrophe that destroyed her home."

Jack nodded with a sympathetic look towards Kara before heading for the back door. "Okay Carter, we'll just get it done quick. Kara, would ya keep Cass and her mother out of trouble for us for a little while?"

Kara had other ideas as she tried to get Jack's attention. "Actually...I know it's silly but...could I-"

"Come on. Pretty sure I got an extra shovel around here somewhere." Jack knew he had said the wrong thing yet again before he had even finished this time.

Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow as he held the door open for Kara. "I believe Kara Zor-El means that she simply wishes to see the pod one last time, O'Neill."

"Oh. Right." Remembering the message that the pod had delivered upon making sure its precious cargo would be safe, Jack's small smile faded altogether as he stood and waved the group to follow him outside. "Are you sure you don't mind kid?"

"You wish to protect me, and if this is the only way, then yes, I am fine with you burying my escape pod. However, my father would have left me a message….before he sent me away. I'd like to hear it first. I was...distracted when you first awakened me." Kara finally said, unable to meet Jack's sympathetic gaze.

"Can't imagine why." A hand fell on Kara's shoulder, and she was surprised to see Daniel on the other end. "Let's just say I know what it's like to be alone. Come on, hopefully you have a message waiting for you."

"Thank you, Daniel, everyone." Kara finally said, unable to stop a lone tear from falling from her deep blue eyes. Once they were back by the pod, the young Kryptonian hopped up on the pod and wasn't surprised when Jack handed her the key. A silent nod passed between them before she unlocked her pod. "I'm going to try and get the message back, it should not take me very long." Unsurprisingly, Kara seemed to know her way around the vehicle as she revealed a hidden compartment under where her head had once rested. A few seconds of fiddling with the inner workings, and the green light Jack seen earlier reappeared before the holographic image of Kara's father stood by the side of her pod once again.

"Universal translation is now back online. Kara, it is impossible for me to fully express my relief at your near miraculous survival. I….regret that I am only an AI representation of your father, but I still feel his joy at knowing you have found yourself among friends." Before Jack could ask the hologram what he meant, Kara's 'father' turned his gaze upon them next. "I have monitored you since you took my daughter in your home. Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson, and Jaffa Teal'c. You have my eternal gratitude for what you've done for her thus far." As if sensing their growing unease at just how well informed the program was, he quickly explained himself. "You should never leave a computer terminal unguarded, though you are not to blame for your primitive digital security. I am a very advanced artificial intelligence, with the memories and emotions of the man I was based on. To put it in simple terms, you could say I am Zor-El, Kara's father, for all intents and purposes."

"Incredible. Are you saying that Zor-El allowed his mind to be scanned and turned into digital information?" Carter asked, but one look at a glaring Jack and an emotionally shaken up Kara silenced her growing curiosity.

Zor-El took a step closer to the small group, his face downcast at what he was about to say. "I will answer all of your questions when I can, and only the ones I believe you are ready to receive, but I wish to speak to my daughter first Samantha."

"Of course, I'm sorry sir." Carter automatically said, the fact she was addressing an artificial lifeform with far more respect than she'd usually give other computer systems of the same ilk only dawning on her a moment later.

"Do not apologize Samantha. Your natural curiosity is a strength, a trait that my people would have greatly benefited from had we not doomed ourselves. I truly hope that your race will preserve this curiosity in the generations to come." Zor-El stated with an equal mix of pride and concern.

Showing his usual way of handling delicate situations was as crude as ever, Jack spoke up. "So... Blew up the ol homestead eh?"

"While that blunt analogy is correct, it is rather lacking Colonel O'Neill. We were foolish enough to believe we had mastered our world. My brother and I, my creator I should say, tried to warn those in power of the impending cataclysm. As your quaint saying goes, 'It's not nice to fool with mother nature.' Our people payed the ultimate price for our arrogance in this regard. We were in the midst of an energy crisis, and as such, our 'elders' thought they could harvest our planet's core without consequence."

"My God." Janet said, having no idea what else she could say to what they had just been told. "How could such an advanced civilization do something so utterly destructive?"

Zor-El glanced at the singed ground at his feet for a moment before responding. "That is a question I and my brother asked our Council many times, although we were far more tactful about it."

"Why didn't you just stop them?" Cassandra asked, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"One of our number tried. A charismatic general by the name of Dru-Zod. The decision to tap into our world's core was the 'straw that broke the camel's back', but there had been many decisions before that had enraged and infuriated an otherwise noble and honorable man. General Zod tried to lead a rebellion against our leaders, but he was outmatched, outgunned, and outnumbered. His fate was to be exiled to the Phantom Zone for the rest of his days. There is….no escape from there."

"Father….please, can you save the history lesson for later?" As a whispered aside, Kara threw her following comment to the people behind her. "He always had a tendency to ramble."

"He and Daniel should get along famously then." Quipped O'Neill with a grin, while masterfully ignoring the glare that Daniel sent in his direction.

For a split second, the hologram seemed to look dumbfounded at them before glancing at Carter.

"Yes, they are always like this. You'll learn to ignore it in time, otherwise you go crazy." Confirmed the Air Force Major with a sigh. She'd never admit it, but she was secretly impressed by her teammates. It was an impressive achievement to leave an AI speechless simply by behaving as you normally did.

With a shake of his head, Zor-El turned his attention back to Kara. "I apologize for not contacting you sooner, but after the rather rough landing, my systems were impaired and I was forced to switch into core function mode. The holographic message that O'Neill witnessed was simply an automated response."

"Hang on! What message?" Daniel instantly demanded to know, since he and the rest hadn't seen the hologram that had appeared originally when Jack had first approached Kara's stasis pod.

"You didn't inform them of my initial automated message Colonel O'neill?" Asked the AI, surprise stamped on his face.

"Nope. There was also the tiny problem that it was in Kryptonian." Jack stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh. I see. You are a rather strange man Colonel. " That was apparently all Zor-El could think to say as he looked from one person to the next before focusing on Kara and Jack once more.

"I get that a lot." O'Neill replied, with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"Jack, would you mind explaining what he means?" Asked Daniel with a degree of forced politeness as he tried to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"Maybe later? And great, thrown under the bus by an alien AI." Grumbled Jack just loud enough to be heard by said AI.

"As fascinating as this conversation is, could we please return to the matter at hand?" Zor-El´s synthetic copy, for lack of a better term, requested politely but firmly.

"Right, right sorry, please continue!" Agreed Jack eagerly, happy to postpone the interrogation, far more begrudgingly Daniel agreed although with a look that said that this was not over.

"Thank you, as I was saying, I was unable to contact you. Many of my more advanced systems are still impaired and are in the need of repairs. It is my hope that with the crystals that were sent with you, you would be able to repair my systems." Zor-El calmly explained. "This way I would be able to assist you at a much higher functionality, as well as activating the more sophisticated functions of your crystals."

As painful as it was to say aloud, Kara had to let her 'father' know of what they had planned for the pod he was contained within. "Father….I can't keep the pod visible, not without fear of discovery."

"I have already completed a limited scan of the area and have found three separate locations I believe would be suitable for your needs. You obviously cannot allow this stasis unit to be found by the rather primitive authorities of this world. So I have uploaded myself to the 'command key' in your possession Kara. No matter what happens, I will always be with you." Turning to Jack, the solemn look on Zor-El's face seemed to deepen as he met the Colonel's gaze. "I realise this is no trivial request, but will you and your friends continue to care for her Colonel? I would be forever in your debt if you accept this crucial task."

"You have our word sir." Jack said without a moment's thought. "I might not be the best guy for the job, but we have a tendency of taking in orphans." Jack made it a point to look at Cassandra, and after Zor-El put two and two together, the small smile on his face returned.

"I see. Then fate has been far kinder than I could have ever hoped." Taking several steps closer to his little girl, Zor-El gazed down at his child lovingly before saying anything further. The rest of the group knew they needed some time alone, and on some unspoken command, hurried back to the cabin. "I'm not one for eloquent speeches like my brother Jor, Kara, but I will do whatever is in my power to ensure your happiness in this strange new world you find yourself a part of now. You have no doubt realized by now their yellow sun has enriched your cells, strengthening you considerably in every way. Their richer atmosphere and reduced gravity allows you advantages they can never hope to match, but you know what I would say to that."

"Do not underestimate another race's potential for greatness." Kara whispered, having never once considered herself superior to anyone, and that was unlikely to change.

"You might be alone, you might stumble, but you seem to have found yourself among some of the best this planet's dominant species has to offer my darling girl. Major Carter especially, seems accepting of your unique nature." As much as he wanted to, Zor-El could only mimic the action of wrapping his girl in a loving embrace as he leaned close to her ear. "Be safe, live well, and never stop expanding your horizons Kara. But now, perhaps it would be best to return to them my daughter. As I know you can plainly hear, they already worry for you, a quality most admirable in my humble opinion." And as quickly as he had appeared, Kara found herself alone once more. She hadn't realized she had fallen to her hands and knees as tears fell from her eyes until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she wasn't all that surprised to see Sam standing over her.

Without a word, Carter knelt and wrapped her arms around the emotional girl, once more letting Kara cry her heart out on her shoulder. Sam almost jumped when she saw Jack standing nearby, but what was more surprising was when Jack knelt down next to them and gently rubbed Kara's back. "Nice guy...your dad. He definitely deserves a damn medal for his ingenuity and determination alone." It was a lame conversation starter, but it was better than letting her suffer alone as far as Jack was concerned. "I don't know why he decided to send you here Kara, or why he thought it was a good idea to drop you off in my backyard, but I meant what I told him. Unless you say otherwise, no, scratch that, _even _if you say otherwise, you're stuck with me as far as I'm concerned." He grinned at the delicate smile that had managed to elicit from Kara and a mild glare from Samantha. "Oh, and Carter, and those other guys too."

"Thanks for that sir." Sam huffed with feigned annoyance as Kara slowly untangled herself from the brilliant scientist. "Sir if you don't mind, I think I'll take her home with me. Not right away of course, but perhaps after she has time to settle in? It's...up to you too though."

"Joint custody already huh? Well, I guess the spark in our relationship died a while ago Carter. I can deal with that. What do you say kid? Think you can handle being around the brains of our little group?" The grin on the older man's face was a mile wide, needless to say.

"I think I can handle it." Kara said softly as she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Can I...take the dictionary with me? I only made it to the start of F before-"

"I ain't gonna need it for anything. Knock yourself out kid." Jack replied as he ruffled the young blonde's hair before standing to his feet again.

"Am not, sir. At least teach her proper grammar." Carter countered with a roll of her eyes as she and Kara stood up moments later.

Pointing an accusatory finger at Sam, Jack continued ranting good naturedly at his second. "Ya see! _This _is the type of stuff that led to our nasty little custody battle in the first place. Beware grammar nazis in all their cunning forms Kara. It _ain't _right for no person, even brilliant astrophysicists, to dictate how you talk."

Carter rolled her eyes in real annoyance this time. "Really? You had to go for the double negative too, Jack?"

"You two ought to be bonded, you certainly act like a couple of bondmates." Kara giggled at the dumbfounded expressions that comment got out of the pair of officers. The small smirk on her face disappeared however as she looked to Sam and Jack. "Thank you for taking such an extreme risk for someone you've only just met. I'll try not to cause too much trouble for all of you."

"Don't make promises ya can't keep kid. 'Sides, trouble seems to find us on a regular basis anyway." Kara had no idea just how true that statement was.

"Um...as touching as this little kodak moment is guys, I believe we still have the matter of the highly incriminating piece of tech right next to you to deal with." Daniel did his best not to squirm under O'Neill and Carter's scrutiny as he nervously pushed his glasses back up. "Just sayin'."

"Kara Zor-El, may we place your craft in a secure location for later retrieval?" Teal'c calmly gestured towards the alien pod.

"Yes. That'll be for the best anyway." Kara reluctantly agreed as she picked up the silvery tube as easily as if it was made of cardboard instead of nearly indestructible metallic alloys. "I'm sure one of the locations my father was nice enough to-" Kara slowly turned around with her minescule burden to several stunned expressions. Even Teal'c was slightly less stoic than usual. "Oh. I shouldn't have don't that, should I?"

"Well...that was a little unexpected..." Jack said, as he shrugged but nodded his head. "If we were in a populated city, then yeah, I'd be a bit more worried. But yeah….might want to keep the superisms to yourself kiddo."

"Indeed." Teal'c said with just a hint of astonishment in his voice.

"You. Are. AWESOME!" Cassandra gleefully told the now mildly embarrassed Kryptonian as she stared at her in a mix of pure joy and awe. "At least one of us gets cool powers and stuff. Say, there's a bully at my scho-"

"No." Kara and Fraiser said at the same time, much to the other's surprise. In an effort to soothe her bruised ego, Kara took a step closer to the annoyed youth before explaining herself. "My father would likely say with great power comes great responsibility. That can come in many forms, but the same idea applies. Abuse of strength, no matter the reason, is still wrong."

Jack tilted his head to the side with a wide grin on his face. "Kara...be honest now...you dug into my comic book collection last night didn't you?

Momentarily setting aside the good example she was trying to set for Cassandra, the young blonde cocked her head in confusion. "No, I honestly didn't. What's a comic book?"

Jack blinked owlishly in stunned surprise at Kara's innocent and naive admission. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that. Otherwise my head might explode in shock. Carter, if she doesn't know at least a dozen Marvel character names by the time I _let _you bask in her awesome presence solo, the deal is off."

"I'll be sure to get right on that sir." Carter replied as she shook her head, amazed by how easily their new houseguest carried her pod away to a secure location. A large explosion was heard moments before an immense cloud of dirt and rock reached towards the sky. "Why do I get the feeling she just slammed her pod right into the ground?"

"Most likely because that is exactly what she did Major Carter. It was a most impressive feat of strength." Teal'c stated serenely, jogging back towards them after accompanying Kara, even if his facial expression said he wasn't as calm as he sounded.

"_Okay_...I'm officially going to start being nice to her twenty-four, seven. As a matter of fact, now might be a _great _time to apologize for being a little short with her last night." Daniel stated flatly, pushing his glasses up his nose, a nervous habit of his the others had noticed long ago.

"No need to apologize for your mental deficiencies Daniel." Kara said with a smirk, as she came back from her trip into the woods, sans pod. Dusting her dirt covered hands off, no one commented on the solemn expression that returned to her eyes. "I was joking Daniel. Besides….if anything, I'd rather be treated like anyone else. I have no desire to cause anyone harm, least of all any of you. And I definitely don't see myself as a superior being. My people doomed our own world, that should prove we….were just as arrogantly foolish as anyone else."

"Oh. Good. Because I figured running away wasn't going to help." Jackson was still tempted to run when Kara proceeded to glare at him.

"Dddaaannniiieeelll..." Kara crossed her arms in annoyance, glaring at the linguist expert and archaeologist with a mixture of humor and frustration.

"Right, Kkaarraa, point taken. Still not going out of my way to irk you though, but that's just because I'm a nice guy once you get to know me." Daniel replied, smirking as he walked next to Kara while the group quickly made their way back to Jack's cabin.

"Uh huh. So when does this 'nice guy' thing kick in Daniel?" Jack asked, an eyebrow raised as he once more opened the door for the group.

"Jack, shut up." Daniel snapped back, sighing heavily as he sat back down in the chair he had slept in last night.

"See. Now that wasn't nice at all. Kara, would you kindly kick his butt into the next state for me?" Kara didn't bite at Jack's bait, simply sighing and shaking her head at the grinning Colonel.

Shaking her head in amusement once again, Carter gestured to Janet for Jack's benefit. "From the look of it sir, Fraiser is ready to make you turn your head and cough." Janet emphasized that point by snapping a glove onto her right hand, which made O'Neill visibly flinch.

"You know, it's a beautiful day! Gonna take a walk and get some fresh air I think. ...Again." Having plunked himself down on his favorite chair, O'Neill didn't get a chance to even start getting to his feet again.

Janet merely raised an eyebrow. "Teal'c?"

Already having positioned himself behind Jack's chair, Teal'c nodded his head to the good doctor before turning to his old friend. "Do not make me restrain you O'Neill. I do not wish to damage your excessive pride."

In an effort get a smile out of O'Neill, Kara embraced the man that had, in her eyes at least, become her eccentric uncle figure. "Thank you for everything Jack. I hope to see you again soon."

"Smartass. Now go on, I'm sure Ddaanniieell and Carter would love to chat with you for a while." Jack said as he ruffled the blonde's hair again before letting her go. Less than ten minutes later, a sighing O'Neill and a relieved looking Fraiser walked out of his bedroom. "I _just_ painted." One glare from Carter was enough for him to throw up his hands in defeat. "Not that the gaping hole bothers me or anything, always wanted a sunroof."

"Uh huh." Daniel's incredulous glance said it all.

Janet motioned for her next patient. Young alien orphan girl aside, she was pleasantly surprised at Jack's state of health. "Teal'c, you're next please."

Teal'c bowed slightly to the kind hearted doctor. "Of course Doctor Fraiser. But I believe you will find me in perfect health."

"I'll be the judge of that Teal'c." Janet wasn't about to take no for an answer, even if her current target was as healthy as a human could possibly get, the literal symbiotic relationship notwithstanding of course.

"Indeed." This time the word sounded decidedly more defeated and somber than usual.

Moments after Fraiser and Teal'c disappeared, Daniel looked up from his computer, a slightly concerned look on his face. "Um guys? I hate to interrupt, but did someone forget to mention Zor-El hacking my computer again?" Daniel asked as he turned his portable terminal towards the others. There was a series of web searches and information pages going at once, straining the computer's ability to keep up, but it showed no signs of slowing down. The only problem was that there was no viable network he could tap into from his current location.

The almost overly polite voice belonging to the artificial intelligence could be heard from the duffel bag between Jack's chair and the couch. "Kara, if you could kindly remove me from this piece of luggage? I will explain what it is I am doing Doctor Jackson."

"Of course." The blonde said with a grin as she removed her 'father' from Jack's old duffel bag. Putting the key on the table next to Daniel's computer, the hologram appeared in the cabin's living room, his hands folded behind his back.

Zor-El nodded with gratitude to his daughter before turning to face Daniel. "Thank you. Now, Doctor Jackson, would you please convey me to the closest data network terminal?"

If Daniel's hesitant speech didn't tell the rest of SG-1 that he thought that was a terrible idea, the look on his face certainly did. "You mean...get you on the net? Um...guys...maybe that's not such a great idea."

Sensing Doctor Jackson's uneasy, Zor-El was quick to lay the man's justified fears to rest as best as he could. "I can assure you I would not cause any harm. I simply wish to create an identity for my daughter, nothing more. Something that can survive some level of scrutiny by those in power on your world."

"Well...more like country, but I get your point." Daniel acquiesced, nervously pushing his glasses up yet again.

"Ah...you're a species that still uses primitive nationalistic borders? Fascinating. Krypton did away with those eons ago." Zor-El said with a note of humor that was hard to miss.

"Father, _please _don't antagonize the natives." Kara teased, getting an assortment of chuckles and eyerolls from the group around her.

Shaking her head in exasperation, Fraiser soon returned with Teal'c in tow. "Alright Teal'c, I grudgingly agree that you're in perfect health. But I still want both you and Colonel O'Neill on light duty for a few days when you come back from leave."

"Of course Doctor Fraiser." Teal'c replied before turning to see Zor-El in the living room. "I had not expect to see you again so soon Zor-El."

"And I am glad to see that this 'death glider' incident Doctor Fraiser was so concerned about clearly did not cause either Colonel O'Neill or yourself any permanent damage Teal'c." Zor-El replied, nodding his head to the Jaffa in his own respectful manner.

"Wait, '_death _glider' incident?" Kara's smirk disappeared when she heard that as she jerked her head towards Teal'c and Jack. She had been trying to ignore anything that she shouldn't have otherwise been able to hear by human standards, and the one time she should have paid attention, she hadn't heard a thing.

Sensing the trap he had inadvertently stumbled into, Zor-El quickly vanished from sight right before excusing himself. "Perhaps now would be an excellent time to conserve power until an appropriate source of energy can be found to recharge my power cells."

"Wait, father!" Mildly frustrated at the small device in front of her, Kara lightly banged her hand against the table, which still caused a slight crack to appear. "You and I both know your power cells can outlast most of humanity!" When he didn't reappear, Kara flopped back onto the couch with a huff. "Of course. The one time I want him to talk, and he decides to go silent." Looking to Jack and Teal'c, Kara was about to ask the obvious question, but Carter beat her to it.

"Sir, we might as well tell her the truth." Besides the obvious fact that her father had spilled the beans to some degree anyway, Carter knew that any 'story' they would have normally told her most likely wouldn't be believed. She was too intelligent for the 'official' cover stories they were required to tell anyone that asked. Alien or not, not everyone was so easy to fool.

"And on that note, my buddy Zor and I are going to get Ms. Zor-El here a fresh new identity." Jackson's rapidly grasped 'Zor' off of the table, not exactly wanting to stick around for the wide eyed girl's irritation.

"Thank you Danniiiieeellll." Kara said with an annoyed roll of her eyes. Crossing her arms under her chest, she briefly considered taking the command key and putting it in a dark hole somewhere for being ignored.

"I believe it's pronounced Daniel, Kara." Zor-El corrected from the safety of Daniel's hand.

"I _knew _you were ignoring me!" Kara shouted back, glaring daggers at the key, and the archaeologist's hand in turn.

"Indeed." It was hard to tell if Teal'c was scowling at the small device, or giving it his usual stoic look.

"Daniel, I would be most grateful if you were to make haste." The small metallic object in Jackson's palm told him, not quite pleading with the archaeologist.

Daniel was already opening the front door a split second later. With the way Kara was glaring at the device in his hand, he wasn't about to stay around longer than he had to. "Already two steps ahead of you Z." Jackson paused before going to shut the door behind him. "I can't call you Z, can I?"

Zor-El's reply was immediate, and while his tone remained level and calm, Daniel still heard a note of irritation in his digitized voice. "I would prefer you didn't."

Jack loudly slapped his hands together before rubbing them together. "Okay...now that the Dave and Hal show has departed, who wants to play charades?!"

"I'd rather hear about that '_death_ glider' incident Jack. Just what are you people into? You mentioned you were a part of a team, now I'm starting to think you're part of a military organization with all this cloak and dagger you're trying to pull." Kara crossed her arms and stared at O'Neill with defiant blue eyes.

"Not flying with you eh, kid?" Jack asked, recognizing teenage angst when he saw it.

"I wouldn't believe it either." Cassandra replied from the other side of the living room. A pair of headphones attached to a portable CD player apparently didn't take away her ability to hear every word.

"We had our own military on Krypton, so no. It's not." Kara stated flatly, glaring at the two older men in the room, making it clear without saying a word she wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than the whole story.

Before Jack could protest or come up with another way to stall, Teal'c took matters into his own hands. "Colonel O'Neill and myself were testing a new space combat vehicle based on an enemy craft. The craft was sabotaged by a piece of technology that was missed while it was being retrofitted. A recall device, its sole purpose meant to return the craft to its point of origin, initiated a program that seized control away from us. The voyage would have taken several centuries at maximum speed. I have no doubt we would have asphyxiated long before reaching our destination." Teal'c had managed to completely ignore Jack's frantic facial gestures and arm waving to get him to stop talking during his entire detailed explanation. O'Neill had hung his head in defeat by the time the Jaffa had finished.

"Huh." It was all Kara could think to say. She blinked several times before she managed to find her voice once again. "Okay, that explains why Janet came down here to check you two over, but that still leaves me with far more questions than answers."

"You do realize that was supposed to be classified right?" Jack muttered before rubbing his temples in frustration.

"It was but one of many times we have faced death O'Neill. However, I believe you may 'court martial' me if you wish."

Kara's blue eyes widened as she looked at the two of them with outright concern. "One of many?!"

"Yup. And not really Teal'c. Besides, I don't think it matters now." The crack in Jack's table became slightly larger as he proceeded to sit down and bang his forehead against it repeatedly.

"Colonel, I still say that Kara's too smart for simple cover stories anyway. She picked up our language in a matter of hours. I strongly believe she'd find the answers on her own. Right Kara?"

"Even among my own people, I was considered a genius. Besides that, my father was one of the leading researchers at Krypton's science academy. So yes, you'd be right Sam." Kara's face fell as a sudden thought occurred to her. Before anyone could say a word, she lightly hugged O'Neill, for the first time truly realizing how fortunate she had been. "I'm glad both of you are alright, and not just only because who knows how long I might have been in stasis. Or if I would have been found by someone far less accepting than all of you have been towards me."

O'Neill had promptly ceased thunking his head on the table the moment he'd heard the cold shiver of fear in Kara's voice, or felt it in her small yet deceptively strong arms. Looking directly at her, Jack's grimace disappeared, replaced by a solemn look of understanding. "Since we're doing story time, might as well get this out in the open. There _are _plenty of people on our quaint little rock I wouldn't want within five hundred miles of you, or any of the other alien allies we've made. As for enemies, we have a few of those that have tried to study or enslave us, depending on the day of the week. So, I guess we have a unique understanding of what it's like to be on the table, so to speak." O'Neill couldn't count the number of times the System Lords had tried to pick their brains, if nothing else, in an effort to destroy all resistance. The SGC had held the line against them, and if Jack had any say about it, they would continue to do all that they could to defend their home world.

"Rest assured Kara Zor-El, no force in this galaxy will be allowed to harm you so long as I draw breath." Teal'c gently rested a hand on Kara's shoulder as she barely managed to avoid shaking, something the Jaffa had noticed immediately. He made a mental note to ask her if she would wish to practice Kelno'reem at a later date, but held his tongue for now. There would be a time for that later.

"Um Teal'c, Carter and I are right-" Jack could already feel Janet and Cassandra's glares from a mile away. "Oh, right, you guys too."

"Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it." Despite their well intentioned words, Kara couldn't keep her smile in place as she looked to the carpeted floor after she sat back down on the couch. "Before I went into that stasis pod and left my dying world behind, my father and his brother were fond of promising me a better Krypton. One free of the close mindedness and xenophobia that had gripped our race. They ultimately failed, and I was forced to flee before those loyal to our council of elders could take our entire House into custody. So please, don't….just don't." It was a summed up version of events, but it was close enough to the truth to make Kara regret bringing it up as she wiped at her misty eyes once again.

"Then we'll just have to prove it to you Kara." Sam said quietly as she went to rub the girl's back, but Daniel's return stopped her before all eyes fell on him.

"Okay, Ms. Kara Shepard..." Daniel sighed, still obviously to his surroundings as he glanced at the paperwork in his hands. "Fifty-two perfectly good suggestions and you end up using that, Zor."

"I had an instinctive feeling that it would become a name people would rally behind." Zor-El shrugged at the dubious glare Daniel shot his way, having reappeared the moment Daniel arrived.

"Okay Zor, whatever you...and I missed something important again didn't I?" Taking in the somber scene in front of him, Daniel just shook his head in annoyance and continued. "Anyway, I hate to inform you, Ms. _Shepard,_ that when you were five years old, your adoptive parents died in a car crash in Ontario, Canada. The reason for your initial adoption was simple, your biological parents couldn't afford a child at the time, and were forced to give you up. You bounced around from foster home to foster home until you ran away and disappeared off the grid for a few years. During that time, you tracked down your biological parents, which led you here to Silver Creek, Minnesota. They had unfortunately passed away some time ago, and the rest of your family wanted nothing to do with you."

"Selfish bastards. Nice touch Daniel." Jack nodded his head in approval.

"Actually, that was Zor again. He apparently has a thing against people that abuse their religious beliefs for their own ends. He made it a point to give me an annoying lecture how 'primitive' such thinking was." Kara managed a small laugh at that even as she tried to suppress just how grateful she was for the immense undertaking these not quite strangers had started for her. Daniel meanwhile sat down before putting the command key and his computer back on the cracked table before he turned to O'Neill. "And Jack, you had an eventful vacation and found her half starved on the street and decided to take her in. Seeing as you are a fine upstanding member of the armed forces...and a former father, child services was more than happy to put the paperwork through, granting you legal guardianship."

"So I'm officially Odin, and you are my far less troublesome blonde version of Loki. I like it!" Jack emphatically stated with an over exaggerated nod before slightly narrowing his humor filled eyes. "I have much to teach you, my naive young apprentice."

Daniel sighed, knowing that he should have talked himself up more with Zor-El on the way into town. Now Kara would be stuck with a guy who thought comic books and Star Wars constituted works of fine art. "It's probably not too late to let your 'dad' work his digital magic again if you'd rather have Sam, or I don't know, a really smart, caring, and sensitive guy for your guardian. Or Jack. Your choice."

Kara tilted her head in mock thought as Daniel leaned in slightly closer to hear her. "So many _amazing _choices... I do like Teal'c, but Jack seems more fun." Kara turned to face the towering Jaffa. "No offense Teal'c. You can be my overprotective 'big brother' if you like." When Jackson just blinked at her with a mildly betrayed look, Kara quickly took pity on him. "I'll always need a really smart, caring, and sensitive 'uncle' too. And a brilliant 'aunt' who I can ask for advice and constantly impress." Carter smirked in approval, liking the sound of that already.

The Jaffa bowed lightly to the young Kryptonian, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "No offense was taken, and I am honored Kara Shepard. Since I am reminded on a daily basis of my stoic nature, I am also forced to agree with your assessment that I lack the capacity for 'fun'."

Having stayed silent long enough, Cassandra was quick to add her two cents into the conversation. "Hey, what about my mom? She's fun….ish."

"Thanks Cass." Janet drawled in feigned annoyance.

Kara could only shake her head in amusement before holding up a hand, silencing any further protests before they could begin. "I know I'm going to be saying this a lot, but I don't know how I'll be able to thank you for everything you've done."

Zor-El couldn't keep the smirk from his face even if he had tried. "Perhaps it would be wise for you to become a part of this SGC program I found mentioned on their so called 'secured' servers based in 'Washington D.C.'? Also, I can't help but notice I was not mentioned. I can sympathize with the disappointment Doctor Frasier is no doubt feeling right now."

"It would be possible if she got herself noticed as an up and coming expert in the field of her choice. "We're always looking for the best and brightest to help in our research of life beyond our own world." Fraiser helpfully told the AI's holographic form, before continuing. "And the fact that you are her father, even in another form, was clearly a given Zor. She has too many of your personality traits not to be related to you." Zor gave the physician a wry smile before nodding to her.

Jack could contain his glee no longer despite his earlier protests about revealing anything related to the Stargate Program. Slapping his hands on the side of his chair, he grinned over to the young blonde before opening his mouth. "Well, since you're now part of my crazy family, and your 'dad' probably knows half of this stuff already, I guess it's only fair if you 'overheard' us big damn heroes talking about a highly classified military operation or two. Your folks didn't happen to know anything about wormholes did they?"

"We know of six different types of them, why?" Kara asked with a dubious look on her face. She had a feeling Jack wasn't going to make it that easy.

"Oh no reason." Jack's less than subtle grin only served to annoy Kara further.

"Six?!" Carter gasped in surprise.

"Later Carter, you can geek out later." Jack was quick to interrupt before the nerds could start comparing notes, and he'd have to pretend he understood nothing of what they said instead of only half.

_End Notes; Vergil1989; It begins. Kara's been 'adopted' by our favorite Colonel, and we might have dropped a hint or two of future events. I won't say one way or the other and you can't make me! Lol, joking aside, we hope you enjoy guys and gals. This little crazy idea from Nomad is shaping up quite nicely if I do say so myself._

_Archer83; Nomad's ideas have to easily be the most heartwarming stuff Vergil and I have worked on yet. I'd just like to thank him again for constantly coming to us with his awesome ideas, not to mention great advice and thoughts on our own stories. As always, please send in those reviews and PMs! Going by your responses so far, it seems the three of us have really started something special with this story!_


	3. Preparing for the Future

**Chapter 3: Preparing for the Future**

**One Week Later...**

"Colonel O'Neill, report to my office ASAP." The General's familiar, stern voice said over the PA system.

With a sigh, Jack O'Neill got up from the mess table, giving up on his truly awful lime jello, and was soon on his way to meet General Hammond. All the while, he wondered if he had done anything that could warrant such a meeting so soon after returning to the SGC. SG-1 had briefed Hammond on their latest mission, where he hadn't done anything wrong, for once, and as far as Jack knew, their next mission wasn't until the day after tomorrow. _Maybe it was the 'Daniel pretending to be a god' thing, so those villagers would listen to us and clear the hell out. Who builds a town next to an active volcano anyway? Oh right. Vesuvius. Mount St. Helens... Man, we earthlings aren't much better at playing the real estate game._

"Ah Colonel, thank you for coming." Despite his polite words, O'Neill could feel a distinct chill in the air the moment he saw the look on Hammond's face.

Jack merely cocked an eyebrow as he unceremoniously plopped into one of the seat in front of Hammond's desk. "No problem sir. What's up?"

The General leaned forward, glaring at the casually relaxing Colonel in his office. "Colonel. Just how stupid do you think I am?"

_Damn. I was really hoping for a lecture on the 'Daniel was a god' thing. _"Is that a rhetorical question or..." The way the General seemed to bristle at his comment gave O'Neill the hint he should dial his particular brand of humor back a notch. _At least I didn't say "On a scale from one to ten?" _O'Neill thought, only mildly relieved.

Hammond sighed and shook his head before speaking any further. "Jack... Are you going to tell me the truth, or are we going to continue this pointless dance?"

"Pointless? Dancing is great sir. You should get out more. Have a night on the tow-" One glare from his commanding officer and old friend was enough to stop him in his tracks. "Shutting up sir."

"Alright then. Let's just cut to brass tacks shall we?" Hammond rested his elbows against his desk, steepling his fingers in thought. Never a good sign as far as O'Neill was concerned.

Jack made a show of sighing in exasperation, desperately hoping that Hammond would take the bait. "Sir...if this is about that minor incident during our mission where Teal'c almost got turned into molten Jaffa saving that kid... well, _you _try to talk him out of doing something stupidly heroic in the middle of a bad situation."

"I'm going to let that one go Colonel. No, I'm not upset about Teal'c foolishly risking his life yet again. That's become more or less standard behavior from him, although the same could be said of you and the rest of your team. I'm more concerned about the recent addition to your family that you forgot to tell me about. One Kara Eleanor Shepard, if I'm not mistaken." The General waited with seemingly endless patience for O'Neill's response, which actually took a good while longer than usual as O'Neill blinked in shock.

"Oh! That." Jack managed to get out without grimacing. He hated to lie to Hammond, but he wasn't sure if Kara was prepared to meet more of his unusual friends.

Just getting her back with them to Boulder had been traumatic enough on Kara. Since her hearing was so incredibly sensitive, it hadn't taken them long to figure out that flying was extremely unpleasant for her. Her oversaturated senses seemed to have calmed down over the last few days, compared to when she had first arrived. How they had gotten her through the entire five hour trip without any incident, Jack had yet to figure that out, he only knew that they had gotten extremely lucky. Especially when some slimy little teen dared to drool over her. Only Carter saved the little perv from the combined wrath of Daniel, Teal'c and himself. Kara had found it amusing later, even though Daniel had promised to mummify the teen alive, and leave his bound body in a deep hole in the middle of a desert. Considering just how much Kara had gotten under his skin, Daniel had grown surprisingly protective of her in a very short amount of time.

So, no, Jack didn't really see the need to stress the young woman out anymore than they already had. She needed time, and a calm, safe place to settle in for a while. Thankfully, Samantha was more than happy to help her and had practically demanded that Kara share her apartment. Teal'c provided the calming presence she desperately needed and, after only a matter of days, Daniel was already quite adept at using her curious nature to distract her from other worries.

Focusing on the present, Jack wondered how he could possibly explain any of that to Hammond. _Oh, sorry! It just slipped my mind that a young girl crashed into my backyard in a bona fide space ship. Yeah. That should work just fine. _He decided to go with a half-truth. "Sorry sir, it's just when I found her and decided to take her in, she was in pretty bad shape, mentally speaking. Her own relatives didn't want anything to do with her. And she's had trouble adjusting to her new life." For a half-truth, it wasn't bad, but it still left a bad taste in Jack's mouth.

The General's face immediately softened, his expression far more concerned than annoyed at his second in command. "Did Dr. Frasier check her when she visited you?" He asked, clearly concerned for the young woman. "I assume that's what her quiet little trip was about."

_If Hammond and I have one thing in common, it is our weakness for kids. _ O'Neill mused while nodding at Hammond, at the same time vowing to tell George the truth as soon as possible. "That she did. Physically, Kara's fine. Still really shaken up an all, can't say I blame her. Frasier suggested that I could use some help with caring for her, at first anyway. I figure between me, Daniel, Carter, and Teal'c, we make at least one and a half decent parents."

"Don't be so humble Jack, the four of you should do just fine. And I want you to know, if there's anything you need, anything at all, you call me right away. Alright?" Hammond said with an earnest smile, which just made it harder for Jack not to say anything.

"Thank you sir. I appreciate that." Jack said simply, neutrally, hoping his poker face wouldn't crumble before he could get out of Hammond's office.

Hammond held out a hand as Jack started to get out of his seat. "I only ask, in good time, when Kara is settled into this new life you've provided for her, that you introduce me to this lucky young lady. If she can put up with you, she has to be one heck of a stubborn girl."

"Oh. Ah, sure thing." O'Neill managed to fake a nervous wince even while being filled with immense relief at avoiding this latest close call. "You sure you're not pissed about the last mission sir? I sense a 'but' coming."

"That will be all. Go home and spend some time with your daughter Jack." Hammond grinned slightly as O'Neill saluted, got up, and headed for the door. "Consider that an order Colonel."

_He obviously knows that I'm hiding something, and he makes it so damn hard to keep it a secret! _ Jack thought while moving through the base towards the elevators which would bring him back to the surface. _Should have known, George is too smart to be simply left in the dark._

Teal'c was, unsurprisingly, waiting for him outside of Hammond's office. "Did your meeting with General Hammond go well, O'Neill? Has our 'family' grown yet a-gain?"

"Why don't you just shout while you're at it Teal'c?!" Jack tersely whispered as they got into one of the waiting elevators, ignoring the curious looks of several servicemen as they did. "And no, it has not."

"Indeed? Perhaps I overestimated General Hammond's-" Teal'c quirked an eyebrow at the death glare he received from O'Neill. "-ability to tolerate your intense need to keep personal matters to yourself."

O'Neill's glare shifted to the subtle nervous glances from the men behind them. "What exactly are you two looking at?"

The two airmen practically leapt out of the elevator as it opened a few moments later as they both saluted the irked Colonel. "Excuse us sir, this is our stop."

O'Neill had jabbed a finger in Teal'c face before the elevator doors had even finished closing. "If that's what you call subtle, Teal'c, then why don't you and I just march on down to the NID _right _now and happily explain everything to them."

Teal'c eyes clouded with anger for the briefest of moments before his serene expression reasserted itself. "You know as well as I do that I would do nothing to hurt Kara Shepard, O'Neill." Teal'c calmly replied, nodding his head as Jack's hard expression softened somewhat. "Your concern for her is only matched by my own for Rya'c."

"I know, it's just…I feel like everytime we so much as talk about her, we risk the NID finding out about our 'guest'. I wish I knew who I could trust in this base….well, besides Frasier, you, Carter, Hammond and Daniel."

Teal'c nodded his head again, a small smile appearing on his face as he did. "We will be enough to ensure your daughter's safety O'Neill. Of that, you have my solemn oath."

"Thanks." Jack's somber expression shifted to a slightly more mischievous look. "So. You wanna make a bet on how many cups Kara broke today?" He was half tempted to buy a set of handleless mugs to replace Carter's shattered ones.

"Her control over her strength is progressing at a far more rapid pace than I had anticipated." Teal'c beamed with pride, the subtle hint of a grin appearing on his face. "So I will wager, only two. I myself wonder how many new nicknames for Daniel Jackson she has developed in our absence." Teal'c countered, the small grin having progressed into a full blown smirk.

Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance, fairly confident that Kara had used up her supply of snarky pet names for Jackson. "Come on, really? She's gotten _way_ more mature since Daniel met her."

Teal'c leaned closer to the thoroughly exhausted Colonel, as if sharing a secret. "Do you not realize that it has only been slightly over a week since you took her in, O'Neill?"

As they reached their floor, Jack sighed and rubbed his eyes. The shadows under them had grown considerably since the week had started. "God. Only A week? I thought a couple months, easy."

"Parenthood is a most energy consuming occupation. Perhaps you should imbibe additional caffeine on a daily basis?" Teal'c suggested helpfully as O'Neill started to wonder if the stoic Jaffa had actually made a joke at his expense.

"Just had my ninth cup before I went to see Hammond. Don't tell Frasier that, or I might have to kill you Teal'c. I _need _my coffee." Jack sighed heavily, but he couldn't help but smile at the next word that came out of the Jaffa's mouth.

"Indeed." The amused eyebrow Teal'c raised only added insult to metaphorical injury in this case.

O'Neill just tiredly shook his head, grinning as they headed for the motor pool. "Smartass. Come on, maybe if we're really lucky, Carter's building will still be standing by the time we get there."

"I highly doubt that Major Carter's home has suffered structural damage in our absence, O'Neill." Teal'c answered with his usual stoic and calm voice as both of them moved from the elevators towards the garage.

"We can hope right?" Jack asked, having a feeling he knew the answer already.

Jack wasn't disappointed as Teal'c continued his soft monologue. "You are trying to make light of our situation by observing that it could always be more unfortunate for us than it already is. Have you not learned O'Neill, that such behavior usually ends with things getting more challenging for us?"

"It's called tempting fate Teal'c." Jack pointed at the blue cloudless sky above them. "Right now, a black cloud could form over my head and a lightning bolt could fry my ass, and I wouldn't be that surprised at all by my truly abysmal luck."

"Consindering the many dangerous situations we find ourselves in, you have a point." The tall Jaffa warrior acknowledged with a nod of his head, just the hint of a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth again. "Perhaps I should operate our vehicle. I would not want a dark furred feline to cross your path O'Neill."

"Don't push it Teal'c." O'Neill grumbled as he fished his sunglasses out of his vest pocket before putting them on.

**Thirty minutes later.**

With the conversation they had had before making the drive back to Carter's apartment, Jack had expected a black hole to somehow open up in Carter's front yard as they were pulling up. Leave two geniuses alone for too long and who knew what might happen. That was Jack's explanation for his growing concern anyway, but when nothing catastrophic happened the moment they pulled into Carter's parking space, he figured they were in the clear for today.

Before they exited the car, Teal'c made sure that his baseball cap concealed the golden mark on his forehead. When they neared the front door, they heard the sound of shattering dishes and the hasty apologies from Kara that immediately followed. The smirk on Jack's face disappeared when the Jaffa subtly looked in his direction as the incorrigible Colonel walked through the front door. "Hello honey, we're home."

"We're in the kitchen." Carter called back, shaking her head at the embarrassed young blonde next to her. "You look like you just killed a puppy or something. Relax, it was only plates."

"Carter." Jack nodded to the mildly annoyed, but mostly amused woman as she started to pick up the shattered remnants of her last dishwasher load. "I see Kara's been busy 'helping' you around here." Despite his sarcasm, he was amazed that other than the dishes, everything else seemed intact. The living room table was covered in papers, but that was nothing new for Sam. She was always working on something.

Samantha gave Kara her best reassuring smile as she quickly finished collecting the fragments. Things had been going so well until Kara had heard Jack's car pull up. In her excitement, Kara had accidentally dropped the neatly stacked plates onto the linoleum. There had been an unexpected positive side to this though, she had broken several plates from an annoying uncle that Sam had considered 'accidentally' dropping out of a window. The moment Kara's mouth started to open, Carter quickly beat her to the punch. "Don't even think about apologizing."

Seeing the mortified rosey glow on her cheeks, Jack 'accidentally' knocked a bowl off of the kitchen counter. "Oops."

"I believe he did that on purpose in an attempt to distract you Kara Shepard." Teal'c said, earning a slightly amused giggle from the girl at the glare Jack threw over his shoulder. The Jaffa merely raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he looked around. "It would seem you were wrong O'Neill. Major Carter's home is, unsurprisingly, still intact."

"Wait. What?!" Jack would have laughed at Kara's almost comically wide eyes if he hadn't already been mentally kicking himself in the ass at that moment.

"Sir...please stop smashing my stuff." Sam gave an irritated huff as Jack bent over to toss what was left of her good mixing bowl into the trash. "And what about my apartment?"

"Oh that, just a little joke." Jack shrugged, immediately regretting the next words out of his mouth. "It's not like we were betting or anything."

"On the contrary O'Neill, I believe you owe me something you referred to as a 'ten spot'." Teal'c countered calmly as ever, annoying Jack to no end.

O'Neill could practically feel Kara's eyes boring into him as he glared as Teal'c, handing him a ten dollar bill. "I could have told you they were lying Samantha. Jack's heartbeat sped up long before Teal'c confirmed it. Thanks for having such faith in me Jack….ass was it?" Crossing her arms over her chest, Kara pushed past the two without a word and plopped down on Sam's couch with only a slight creak.

"Daniel stopped over for a while. Don't ask how they got to talking about Earth curses, I was busy in the garage at the time." Sam almost growled as she pushed past the two idiots to sit next to Kara on the couch.

"I found the Urban Dictionary on the internet while on Sam's computer, and I asked Daniel about it. One thing led to another, as I've learned." Kara said innocently, looking at Sam with her big blue eyes. "I didn't expect to find such bad words in it! You should really be more careful with what you leave lying around."

"Of course, how could I forget?" Grumbled an annoyed Carter, not believing the innocent act Kara put up for even a second, and yet couldn't help but feel slightly amused since she had to use the same tricks when she was a teenager. When she was actually talking to her father anyway, and not just avoiding him at every turn.

"Speaking of which, where the heck is Daniel anyway? I think we need to have a little chat." O'Neill's tone left no doubt that it wouldn't be a pleasant one.

"I think he mumbled something about translations before driving off. By the way, you do realize that he sometimes talks to himself?" Kara asked, looking from person to person in curiosity. "Is that normal human behavior?"

"Doctor Jackson often speaks to himself during moments of intense concentration." Teal'c offered helpfully.

"Or he speaks into a recording device, either a tape recorder or into his laptop's mic. Either way, it's just his way of saving his thoughts." Sam chimed in as she made herself a snack.

"Or he's having a nice conversation with the voices in his head." Carter didn't hesitate to jab her elbow into Jack's side. "Or not."

"Oh I see. My fa-" Kara looked away at that, the mood in the room dropping to a solemn silence as she slowly stood from the couch and wandered away. Sam looked to Jack, who only nodded before following her onto the balcony. He found her with her hands on the railing, looking out into Sam's backyard, but he had a feeling she wasn't truly seeing it. "You didn't have to follow me Jack." She said without looking over her shoulder.

"No I had to. I've lost people I care about too, and I can't simply watch you get more and more depressed." That got Kara's attention, jerking her head to the side as Jack soon stood by her side. "I'm an old man kiddo, damaged goods as we say on this blue rock in the middle of nowhere." Jack could sneer with the best of them in front of a system lord, but right now he couldn't bring himself to look the young woman next to him in the eye. "Starting to think you could do better, to be honest. We did sort of rush things."

"More like a lack of options." Kara chuckled weakly at her own joke, a hint of a smile appearing before it disappeared just as quickly. "But getting to know you and everyone here is the best thing that could have happened to me Jack. You aren't as damaged as you think, and I'd rather be here with you and Sam, and Teal'c, and even Denial. I mean Daniel." Jack couldn't help but notice how her eyes brightened. "He's been especially nice to me, despite how I've treated him. I should probably stop with the silly names."

"Damn. Hold that thought one sec. Teal'c?" O'Neill sighed as he dug out his wallet once more, before Teal'c snatched the bill out of his hand the moment the towering man had stepped outside with them. "Well, still not so sure about you being a great judge of character kiddo, but thanks anyway. And just between you and me, I think Daniel likes your 'silly names'." Gently putting a hand on her back, Jack smirked as an idea came to mind. "So, you and my resident nerd were busy. Saw your handiwork all over Sam's table on our way in."

"Your nerd? I wasn't aware that you and Samantha were married!" Kara exclaimed in mock shock, earning an eyeroll from Jack as he let his hand drop back down to his side. She giggled, and suddenly, the solemn mood was gone, at least for the moment. "We've had time to get to know each other, and despite talking about astrophysics and wormholes and anything else that came to mind, she still had time to tell me, more than once, how much confidence she has in you as a friend. A very close friend apparently." Kara became tongue tied as she rapidly tried to backtrack. "I mean, your squad...group, team?"

Ignoring the obvious slip up on Kara's part, Jack nudged the girl's side with his elbow and leaned on the railing a little more heavily. "Team. We also go by heroic bad asses, if you like that kind of thing."

"I do not recall any member of SG-1 referring to themselves as such, O'Neill." Teal'c chimed in, startling Jack mildly since he had forgotten about the Jaffa, given his silence.

"Are you still here? Go kelno'reem on Carter's couch or something." Kara could only shake her head and smile at the two of them as Teal'c nodded his head and disappeared into Carter's apartment. "I swear it's like being around a living statue half the time with him." Jack winced at his less than kind words. "Don't tell him I said that."

"No promises Jack." Kara giggled, enjoying the way he squirmed at her teasing comment. "He is a good man though, even with that symbiote in his stomach." Her grin widened as his eyebrows shot up in a mix of surprise and irritation. "Yes, Sam and I talked about 'Junior' while you were at the base. By the way, do you really think that it's appropriate to call a symbiote 'Junior'?"

"Kid, when was I ever something even remotely close to appropriate since you have met me?" Jack asked, grinning at the smirk on the girl's face as she looked up at him.

"When you made me feel safe the night we first met?" Kara smiled at the honest blush she had managed to get from O'Neill. "It's amazing really, that silly little drawing of yours managed to calm me down, while Daniel's attempt at communication only annoyed me. He is very good at his work, the theories he came up with even before he joined the SGC are amazing, but his interpersonal skills...suck?"

Jack laughed and his smirk grew wider yet before he met Kara's blue eyed gaze. "Extremely. It's funny, you got his number even faster than I did the first time I saw the brilliant sneezing mess that was our Daniel."

Kara grinned at the happy look on Jack's face at the memory. "Abydos was at least a nice desert planet, besides the business with Ra, right?"

"I see someone can't keep their mouth shut." Jack replied, a mixture of amusement and something else in his eyes.

Kara's explanation answered Jack's unasked question, and the strange look on his face softened somewhat. "I told him I wanted to know how all of you met. Daniel was nice enough to humor me. He glossed over certain parts about you though, and he wouldn't say why. And I noticed that he seemed uncomfortable when I asked him about a woman he briefly mentioned. Sha'r-"

O'Neill's happy smirk had vanished in a millisecond. "You aren't going to want to bring that up again unless he does first."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked about her should I?" Kara asked, already knowing the answer to her question.

The somber expression on Jack's face was dwarfed only by the deep pain in his eyes. "And as for me...Kara, I'm not exactly father of the year material. There's something I have to tell you. And I'd rather get it over with now than wait until it's too late."

"Is it about a picture I saw of you and a boy I haven't seen since getting here?" Kara asked, having suspected something terrible had happened to Jack long before she had accidentally stumbled upon a picture frame that had been laying face down in the Colonel's cabin. The picture had only cemented her growing suspicions, but she had not once thought Jack was to blame. He had taken her in without a second thought, that alone proved his strength of character.

To Jack's credit, he only nodded to her, not showing his surprise at just how observant Kara actually was. "Something...something happened that I can never take back, that I can never-" Hesitating for a moment, Jack pushed forward before he could lose the nerve to tell Kara the truth. "I lost my son Kara." He didn't react when she inhaled sharply at his admission, if anything it only spurred him on. "He came across my handgun...guess I hadn't locked it away properly. I all but murdered him myself. It might as well have been me pulling that trigger." He blurted out, feeling the familiar pain and self-loathing he always did when he thought back on that day.

Kara looked at him with such a sad and understanding expression that he couldn't meet her gaze and, once again, found himself forced to look away. Seeing that look of intense loss once again, Kara was reminded of the framed image O'Neill had glanced at before they had left his cabin. He hadn't seen her in the darkness at the time, looking over his shoulder. "I knew from the way you looked at that boy's picture, something had happened between you. I just never thought that-" Kara lightly placed her hand on Jack's shoulder, seeing now just how consumed by regret he truly was. It was too close to how her own father had looked before he had put her to sleep, and sent her on her long voyage through the void. Putting a hand on his shoulder, Kara looked up into the man's grizzled face. "You didn't pull the trigger Jack. How can you expect me to overcome the pain of losing everything I've ever known, if you can't do the same?" The guilty look on O'Neill's face was only matched by the intensity of her now teary blue eyes. "If anyone understands loss as well as you do Jack, it's me. I lost my family, my world, and my people. I am all that remains, and I have to live with that knowledge everyday. So don't think that you can scare me away that easily."

Jack managed a grim smile, even as his guts continued to twist into knots. "Just thought it was only fair that you should know how messed up the guy who volunteered to be your guardian is."

"Two halves make a whole….that's the first thing my mother and father taught me through their expressions of love for each other rather than through words alone. Between the two of us, I think we'll be alright Jack." A less than subtle cough caught their attention as they looked to see Sam standing behind them.

Jack wasn't sure how much Sam might have heard, and just as he was about to ask, she interrupted him. "I was thinking of ordering out, figured you'd want to be here for the big moment when Kara gets to try pizza."

"With roni peppers, right?" Kara asked, her tear filled eyes drying up as she turned to the only other blonde in the apartment.

Carter smiled at her emotional flip, not about to correct her. She wasn't about to embarrass the young girl further today, not after what she had heard between Jack and Kara. "You'll love it. Just make sure you stay away from these horrible things called sardines. Highly poisonous."

Kara nudged Jack's side again, before speaking up again. "See? There's no need to worry Jack. Your wife already took care of everything." Kara teased the two adults, enjoying the way both of them blushed and turned away from each other, like two kids who had gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar. It was a needed distraction after what had just passed between herself and Jack.

"Wait, wife? What did I miss guys? Is this some weird alternate dimension or time travel thing again? Oh wait, Kara, just pretend I didn't say that." Having returned from whatever dusty tome he had no doubt been translating, Daniel had picked the worst time to show up as he looked from one blushing face to the next.

"Jack proposed to her while you were away Denial." Kara said with a straight face as Jackson's jaw dropped. "It is proposed right? Or it is bond mate here to? Whatever, it was soooo romantic! A real pity you weren't here to see it, Teal'c went inside to hide his manly tears."

Daniel sighed with relief as he took a moment to clean his glasses. "You had me going there for a minute. But you should know, Teal'c doesn't cry. Ever."

Teal'c was quick to correct his friend as he passed by the balcony doorway. "That is not entirely true Daniel Jackson. I distinctly recall shedding several tears during the birth of my son."

Daniel rolled his eyes at the surprisingly honest Jaffa before nudging his glasses back into place. "Okay, Teal'c _hardly_ ever cries. Once a decade habit, tops."

But both and Jack and Sam weren't really listening, they were much more focused on trying to control their respective blushing. Kara barely had to focus her hearing as she listened to what Daniel would say was the 'elephant in the room', the now greatly accelerated heartbeats of the two Air Force officers. She smiled at both of them, although they still wouldn't meet her gaze, while also listening to Daniel bantering with Teal'c. As she closed her eyes for moment, focusing on the steadying heartbeats of the people she now considered her adoptive parents, Kara felt her eyes began to tear up once more. Only now these were a harbinger of joy instead of sorrow.

She shook her head to clear her vision, and when she opened her blue eyes again, she was looking directly at Teal'c's symbiont pouch, or rather through it. The only thing she could see of Teal'c and his symbiont were their skeletal structure, when she looked up she could only see the skulls of the people who surrounded her. It was an unsettling sight to see bones being moved through the air by no apparent force. When her vision changed yet again and she could see every muscle, she wished that she could see only the bones. Despite the rather disturbing nature of this particular ability, she tried her best not to show any discomfort. She didn't want to ruin the happy mood with the discovery of this new ability, no matter how upsetting it was or what she was forced to see.

It took some concentration on her part, but Kara was able to push this newest development away as her vision returned to normal a few seconds later. She'd have to dig out Zor-El's command key later and talk to him about this strange new power, but now wasn't the time. Instead she smiled at everyone and asked. "So what was this about ordering pepper'oni pizza?"

**Two hours later...**

Everyone had either gone back to their respective homes, or had gone back to the base, leaving Sam and Kara by themselves. The pizza had been good, to say the least, and Kara was leaning against the couch's back, her head leaning over the edge with her face uplifted into a contented smile. "That was quite a meal Sam."

"If you can call several slices of greasy pizza a meal. On the other hand, I imagine you've still got some growing to do." She chuckled, looking over the notes Kara had put together during their earlier tech talk. "Is this what I think it is?" Sam asked as she realized what it was she was looking at.

"Depends, what do you think it is Sam?" Kara asked as she sat up, loving the way the gears turned behind the woman's eyes. Samantha had already proven to be a brilliant scientist in the first five minutes of talking with the elder blonde.

The schematics Sam was looking over were incredibly intricate, but that wasn't so surprising since they had been drawn by Kara. What was surprising was what they were meant to assemble. "I'm going to take an educated guess and say that you just handed me the keys to make an incredibly advanced AI global monitoring system."

"Brainiac. It was actually a project my father had come up with. I saw the blueprints once, and only for a few seconds. I never liked the idea, but I thought you could possibly benefit from some of the computing technology used in its design." The shiver that passed through Kara's small frame didn't go unnoticed by Sam.

Despite that, Sam wasn't sure what was more amazing, the fact that she was looking at an AI system designed to monitor the planet's well being, or the fact Kara had admitted to seeing the design specs for only a few seconds, and yet she had remembered them so perfectly. "This is probably movie night talking, but please tell me your father never built this thing?" She honestly hoped not. Something about this 'Brainiac' did nothing good for the scientist's stomach.

"No, no. The council was actually smart for once and shut the project down before it could get off the drawing board. My father was the first to call for it to be stopped when he found certain inherent programming errors in its beta phase coding. I believe both my father and uncle were shocked by the sudden wisdom displayed by the council, at least they looked that way at the time." Kara said with a small grin before it disappeared and she began to frown. "Of course their newly found wisdom didn't last long."

"The energy crisis you mentioned, as well as their decision to tap the core of your world." Sam stated, and Kara nodded solemnly.

"Uncle Jor was developing a prototype energy source that would have solved all our problems and more, but they thought it was nothing more than wishful thinking, and shut it down before he was finished." Kara shook her head at the memory. "The scary part is, the council's stupidity brought my father and uncle together. They could nag at each other for hours to no end, but when they had a common enemy, well then it got really scary."

In an attempt to lighten the tension in the room, Sam decided to change the subject as she picked up another sketch that was on the table. "Huh...what's this?"

It took her a second to focus on anything but the last days of her home planet, but a small smile appeared on the young woman's face as she looked at the picture Sam had picked up. "Oh that, it's not important. Here, let me show you-"

Sam cut her off before she could try and pick up another of her sketches, waving the one she had in her hand around excitedly. "If I'm reading this right, this is a molecular design for some type of highly thermally resistant ablative polymer. Going by the lattice structure, a quarter inch of this stuff would be able to stop just about anything. A strong enough kinetic force would still be an issue, but short of being hit by the shockwave from an explosion, I don't see anyone suffering serious injury if you used this as a protective coating on body armor."

It was all Kara could do not to laugh at the astonishment on Sam's face. To her, the armor coating she had drawn out was barely worth a footnote in her opinion. She had the know how to revolutionize medical technology and give them potentially unlimited, clean energy that would be appropriate for a planet of this technological level, until they tried to expand to the stars of course. Even so, her specialty wasn't in the area of war, or conflict in general. "Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot how primit- unique your technology is." Kara quickly corrected herself, realizing she had been two seconds too late.

Sam crossed her arms, an amused expression on her face. "Uh huh. You know, I recall someone leaving a small crack in my counter when she couldn't figure out how a toaster worked."

"Your outdated technology sucks, what do you expect? Besides, that was a completely different situation." Kara countered, torn between rolling her eyes and shaking her head in amusement at the recent incident. "We had solar wands for that kind of thing. Wave it over a piece of bread and you had instant toast."

Carter's eyebrows reached for her forehead in mock astonishment. "Really? Write that one down next. I don't know about the SGC, but I certainly wouldn't mind having one. And maybe it'll save my kitchen from further damage." Sam teased the young teen, telling herself she wasn't taking revenge for the merciless teasing she and Jack had had to endure earlier.

"And here I thought you were the serious one Sam." Kara chuckled, smirking to herself as she picked up a pen and started drawing out a solar wand blueprint despite Sam's sarcasm.

Carter curiously watched over her shoulder as she replied. "What? Can't an astrophysicist have a sense of humor too?"

"I would need to ask Jack, he seems to know a lot more about various kinds of humor. And you." Kara grinned mischievously back at the scientist. _Too easy_. Kara thought as once again, she saw Sam begin to blush.

"A-anyway, can we move on?" Professionally speaking, as much as Sam might have wanted Jack in a more intimate role in her life, there was a reason the rules said otherwise.

Knowing when to drop a particularly sensitive subject, Kara nodded her head. "Alright, Sam. What would you like to talk about?" _Besides self denial, as well meaning as it might be._

"Well, for starters...just how advanced is this polymer? Would we be able to produce it with our current _primitive _technology?" Samantha asked with just a hint of sarcasm before she took another look at the specs. Something about the schematics seemed relatively simple despite the potential behind the polymer itself.

"Sure, I designed it that way so that you could use the means which are currently at your disposal to create it. Wouldn't make much sense otherwise don't you think?" The young alien teen answered with a shrug.

"You got me there. Wait...you designed this? From scratch?" Kara shrugged her shoulders, as if she had completed a simple homework assignment rather than handing over an incredible invention. The sheer level of intelligence Kara possessed was staggering, and Samantha was reminded that she was light years ahead of anything she could have imagined possible before. It took all of her willpower to stop her own hands from shaking in amazement. "Kara, I can't tell you how much it means to me for you to have shared even half of this with me, but this alone could save lives. And unlike most of your other designs, which are incredibly brilliant, we could implement it fairly quickly." Carter's eyes twinkled with a mischievous thought as Kara nervously rubbed the back of her head. "How would you like to see where I work? My real job, that is?"

Kara's eyebrows shot up this time as she looked at Sam in a new light. "The 'deep space monitoring station'?" The air quotes might have been a bit much, but they got her point across. "Don't you think it's a little quick, even if I shared technology that could save people? I appreciate the offer Sam, but I never was a fan of war, no matter the reason behind it, and Jack and Teal'c shared enough of your little 'project' to clue me into the confrontation with the goa'uld." She could defend herself well enough by her own people's standards, but that wasn't the problem. Kara was just uneasy about getting involved with the SGC and everything it stood for. It wasn't a bad project in and of itself, but she knew how easily things could change when leadership shifted hands. That and the secrecy around it was too cloak and dagger for her liking.

Sam knew the old arguments, having been part of more than a few similar debates with Daniel and Jack. That didn't stop her from trying to convince Kara to consider the offer. "I understand, but not everyone who works at the SGC is a soldier. We have plenty of scientists who never experience combat. I don't expect you to fight in a war Kara, I just thought that maybe this would interest you." Carter glanced around her apartment. "It certainly beats staying cooped up in here."

"It interests me, a lot, and you are right Sam. I'd rather be doing something than nothing, even if it is just taking rock samples on some forest moon halfway across the galaxy where we undoubtedly meet little bears. The problem I have however, is all the cloak and dagger associated with it. I understand the need for it, but the fact remains that this world isn't ready for half of what I've heard involved with the program. My own existence would rock this world to its very core Sam, even though I look like any other blonde teenager on your block. Can you honestly guarantee me that people would accept me if they knew what I am?"

"No….I can't Kara." Sam reluctantly replied, understanding what Kara was trying to say even if she tried to avoid saying it outright. Humanity wasn't ready for the knowledge they weren't alone in the cosmos. While the chances of the project going public were slim, she also understood that questions would no doubt be asked as to how they had suddenly gotten their hands on advanced military grade hardware from a sixteen year old girl, appearance wise anyway. Then there was the NID and xenophobic people in general to consider.

"And let's be honest, these...abilities, your military would love to study them, or at the very least imprison such an individual. Because of the obvious threat I-they would pose." Kara continued, her breathing accelerating slowly but surely. It was clear that she was nervous and was trying to hide it.

"Unfortunately you'd be right Kara, but that won't be allowed to happen. Jack was right when he drew that picture of us, there's no way that we'd let you be studied or taken away." Sam replied quietly, her unwavering conviction filtering through her voice as she met the young woman's gaze.

Sam was caught unprepared by the hug she received in the next second as the scared teen clung onto her, and she wrapped her own arms around the girl and did her best to calm her down. Kara had handled her current situation admirably, but there was only so much anyone could endure before they cracked under the pressure. Besides, Kara had endured far more than any young adult should have too long before she had ever shown up on Earth. Her entire people, her planet was gone. There was no going back from something like that.

Carter was determined to make her new life a far better one, no matter the cost. It helped that Jack had no doubt come to the same conclusion earlier that day. And it was a foregone conclusion that Teal'c would destroy anyone that got in his way if it protected Kara's safety and continued happiness. But Daniel, Sam realized that he might just be the most dangerous of them all, if given a chance in the right place and time. "No one is taking you away from us. That's a promise."

**Authors notes:**

_Vergil1989; We apologize for the late updates on this guys and gals. Archer and myself have been working on a few original stories over the past month or so, and we took a break from fanfiction to try and get them ready for publication. We're still far from done, but we took a break from our original stuff to get back to our fanfiction lol._

_Archer83: What Vergil said. And I figured it would be realistic in this story if it took a few days for it to dawn on everyone exactly just how dangerous their situation is. Hence O'Neill's short temper at times and his need to be completely honest with Kara. While Teal'c, Daniel and Sam have their owns ways of coping with this added stress._

_Nomad-117: And in turn Kara reveals a few of her own fears. which is completely understandable in such an unique situation. This also should make clear that Kara isn't going to join the SGC on a whim. No, something might happen that will show her the importance of their fight, maybe, probably. Well I hoped you enjoyed it, and if there are any questions feel free to PM us and please review!_

_Archer83: Very subtle foreshadowing there Nomad. :P_

_Nomad-117: How would you have done it?_

_Archer83: Well, let's just say that no one screws with her new family and gets away with it._

_Nomad-117: Fine by me. Okay everyone, forget I said anything. You will forget anything that I said about the future! (Waves hand in front of your face)_

_Archer83: Wrong story Nomad._

_Vergil1989; You can try that on Razor's Edge, Nomad, it might work then lol._


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